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to the Lepidoptera; while others have proposed that they should constitute a distinct Order, named Trichoptera. I presume not to say who is right.

The Ephemeridæ, or May-flies of the angler, a family of Neuroptera, proceed from larvæ which live in water, those of some species, it is said, for the space of two or three years,— a strong contrast to the duration of life in the perfect state. "Their elegant flight in swarms (composed, as in the gnats, almost entirely of male insects) in fine afternoons over or near water, alternately rising and falling, must have attracted the attention of the most incurious: in this operation the upward flight is produced by the repeated action of the wings; but in descending, the wings are widely extended, as well as the tails. A few hours previously they had been the inhabitants of the water, from which, in the pupa state, they had crawled to the surface, where they cast off their pupa skin, appearing at first sight to be fully developed, with the wings extended to their full size: they then make their way, flying with difficulty to the shore, where they affix themselves to the trunks of trees, stems of rushes, walls, or even upon persons standing upon the bank, when they again cast off a very delicate pellicle, in which they had been entirely encased, and which remains unchanged in form, attached to the objects on which they had stationed themselves: the skin, however, in which the wings had been enclosed, shrivels and curls up into a mass, hanging down at the sides of the thorax: after this process the wings, disengaged from the outer covering, assume a brighter appearance, and the tails grow to twice their previous length."*

* Westwood's Introduction to the Modern Classification of Insects,' vol. ii., p. 27.

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Mr. A. H. Davis has recorded the manner in which this last process was performed in a species that came under his notice. "On a fine evening towards the latter end of May I was collecting in the neighbourhood of Brixton, near some ponds, when I was suddenly covered by a multiude of a small species of Ephemera I think the genus Cloëon. They settled on me apparently from my being the most conspicuous object near on which to undergo their final transformation. Their colour was of a dusky white and opaque. They retained their position without moving, enabling me to observe beneath the glass the process by which these fragile creatures withdraw themselves from the comparatively cumbrous garment which envelopes their beautiful and aërial

form.

"Immediately on settling, the wings were laid flat at right angles with the body, and the insect remained about half a minute in a state of repose. A slight motion then appeared about the bases of the wings, which gradually collapsed, and were drawn alongside the abdomen. At this moment the insect resembled a piece of dirty cotton wool with little form. The elevated portion of the thorax now distended, and then gave way longitudinally, exhibiting the bright brown thorax of the insect, which was rapidly followed by the head and anterior legs. After this effort the insect rested a few seconds, The next discernible motion was in the two or three last segments of the abdomen, where the muscles were in violent agitation, evidently for the purpose of extricating the fine setæ which adorn that part. The contraction continued upward; and the wings, freed from the flimsy covering, were fully developed, and in an instant the delivered captive took its flight:

the whole process strongly resembling the drawing off of a tight glove. The whole operation did not, in most cases, exceed three minutes; in some cases less."*

The Dragon-flies, popularly but erroneously termed "Horse-stingers," are produced from larvæ that live in water. Horrible, big-headed, long-bodied creatures they are. You you will often bring them up in your water-net. The perfect insects have four long wings, crossed all over with delicate nervures, giving them the appearance of net. They are most active and voracious creatures, sailing about in the air with great ease and velocity, preying upon insects which they catch on the wing, ever and anon settling upon some dry twig, but wary to a degree and difficult to catch. many native species which are generally found near water; but sometimes they wander from it, and may be seen coursing up and down the sides of roads or woods. Some of the smaller species, however, are feeble and delicate, and are easily taken.

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All the species are more or less ornamented with bright colours, which are difficult to preserve after death.

Marshes, especially those of Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire, are fertile in insects. The beautiful Swallow-tailed butterfly (Papilio Machaon) abounds, so also did the splendid Lycana dispar, or Large Copper, until, about ten years ago, a flood came and drowned all the larvæ; and since then not one butterfly has been seen. Among the larger moths the genera Leucania, Simyra and Nonagria are confined to marshy localities, the larvæ feeding on or in reeds

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and other aquatic plants. Some of them which were common at Whittlesea Mere, since it was drained are likely to become extinct. Horning Fen, in Norfolk, is the only known locality for the moth Lithosia muscerda. A great many Coleoptera are peculiar to marshy ground and the banks of rivers and ponds. They may be found among the grass, sedge and other vegetation, also under clods and stones.

Trees growing in wet places, such as willows, poplars and alders, feed a great many insects. The larvæ of the goatmoth abound in the wood of willows, and those of Cerura vinula, or puss-moth, upon the leaves. The larvæ of the large kitten-moth (Cerura bifida) feed on the leaves of poplars, and spin their hard pupa-cases on the trunks, where they are very difficult to see. Cerura bicuspis, a rare species, does the same on alder. host of other sorts of caterpillars; and the leaves of all these trees are mined by the caterpillars of several kinds of small moths, belonging chiefly to the genera Nepticula and Lithocolletis.

Sallows feed Cerura furcula and a

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"There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on a lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but nature more,
From these our interviews, in which I steal
From all I may be, or have been before,

To mingle with the Universe, and feel
What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal."

BYRON.

EVERY summer Englishmen rush to the sea-side in thousands, for all kinds of reasons, real or alleged. And when they get there they discover that they have brought the cause of the disquiet that drove them from their homes with them,-that it is in themselves. They know nothing of the sea, the shore, or their peculiar products; and they are very little impressed by the vastness and grandeur of the ocean, if we may judge by the little interest they take in its phenomena, and the way they kill time by empty amusements. Would that they were naturalists, even in the

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