THE SNARE-WEAVERS. 199 
of a vine spotted with red, there the red mite has 
been taking up its home ; and the gardener knows 
very well how the rose-trees and acacias will pine 
away when the mites assert their right to live upon 
them. Then too there are the water- mites which 
swarm in the snug shallows of the wayside ponds, or 
sit on the smooth leaves of the water-plants, in which 
they pierce holes for their eggs. These eggs by and 
by hatch into young larvae, some of which feed on 
plants, while others plunge their suckers into water- 
insects, and only roll off to the bottom when they 
wish to hide themselves, before turning into the 
perfect mites which again swim about in company. 
Then there are the innumerable mites and ticks 
which live in the feathers of birds, or on beetles, and 
bees, and even on their relations the spiders, while 
others burrow in the flesh of mice, dogs, and cattle, 
holding on by sharp hooks attached to their mouth, 
and sucking the blood of their victims ; and most 
of us have suffered from the bite of the harvest-bug, 
which is a true mite, and burrows under the skin of 
animals and of man himself. Among these mites 
we find, just as we did in the parasitic worms, that 
the more these tiny creatures live within and upon 
other living beings, the more do they become degraded 
and lose their active powers. 
Thus the eight- legged insects swarm in the 
fields, on the trees, and in the water, in our cheese, 
our flour, and upon other animals, and with their 
tiny weapons make good their right to live ; and 
though we scarcely recognise their existence unless 
they annoy us or spoil and destroy what we value, 
yet the life-history of the scorpions, the spiders, and 
