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nimble motion, and, except in colour, suffer no future change; only continuing to grow larger and browner as they advance in age. This insect affords the most beautiful view imaginable of the pulsation of the heart. The method of examining it to advantage, is to place the insect on one side, in a very small drop of water in this situation the heart may be seen performing its dilatations and contractions with the utmost regularity. Besides the monoculus apus, we have four or five more species of the same genus in England. The monoculus pulex is very small, and usually of a greenish, sometimes of a reddish, colour; the monoculus quadricornis is of a brownish colour: the tail is long, slender, and bifid, and under this, on each side, there is frequently seen a large cluster of eggs, equal to the whole body of the insect in bigness. The shell with which the body of the monoculus conchaceus is covered, is of an oblong, ovated figure, and of a dusky brown colour: when taken out of the water, it shuts up close, and resembles the seed of some plant. A species of this genus, which is of a blood-red colour, commonly called, after Swammerdam, the pulex aquaticus arborescens, is so numerous in stagnant waters, at some times, as totally to change their colour; and this has been called turning water into blood, and by many fanciful people esteemed a portent.

Some of the most splendid butterflies are seen in August. The most remarkable are the swallowtailed butterfly (papilio machaon), of a beautiful yellow, with black spots; the peacock butterfly (papilio io), of an orange-brown colour, with black bars intersected by spaces of yellow; the admirable butterfly (papilio atalanta), of the most intense velvet-black colour, with a rich carmine-coloured bar across the upper wings, which are spotted towards the tips with white; and the papilio paphia, a highly elegant insect of a fine orange-chesnut colour above, with numerous black spots and bars; it is usually found in

the neighbourhood of woods. To these may be added, the black-eyed marble butterfly (papilio semele), and the small golden black spotted butterfly (papilio phlæas),

Now to the pool, or to the shallow brook',
The panting herds retire, beneath the shade
Of quivering verdure, where inert they stand;
Or only lash from off their shining sides
The flies; while the docked horse, deprived of aid
That nature lends, unguarded feels the sting
Of madding torment, and with anguish foams.

BIDLAKE.

That beautiful little insect, the lady-bird, or ladycow, now seen, and so often charged with being the cause of blights in apple-trees, is in reality the best remedy against that disease. The lady-bird, both when perfect and in its larva state, feeds entirely upon the aphis, a genus of which the blight in question is a species. The utility of this insect, in destroying the blight, is well known in the hop

countries.

The harvest-bug (acarus ricinus), in this and the following month, proves a very troublesome and disagreeable insect; particularly in some of the southern counties of England. It is of a somewhat globular

1 The failure of the brooks in summer is beautifully alluded to by Bishop Horne. Speaking of the comforts of the world, riches, fame, honour, and pleasure, he says, ' In such comforters, therefore, put not your trust, for they will undoubtedly fail you in time of need. They are winter-brooks, overflowing when there is least occasion; but, in the burning heat of summer, the thirsty traveller, who has recourse to them for the relief of his necessity, finds them dry.'-See his sermon entitled The Holy Ghost a Comforter. CowPER, in his Task,' thus characterises the summer brook :

The declivity is sharp and short,

And such the re-ascent; between them weeps

A little naiad her impoo'rished urn

All summer long, which winter fills again.

shape, of a bright red colour; smaller than the common mite, and but just perceptible when on the skin. It adheres to the skin by means of two short arms, situated above the upper legs, so firmly as not easily to be disengaged. Wherever it fixes, it causes a tumour about the size of a pea, or larger, accompanied by a most unpleasant irritation. These insects abound upon plants, and are generally caught from walking in gardens, among long grass, or in corn fields. The best cure for the bites is hartshorn. Flies are now numerous, and wasps become in this, and the subsequent month, very annoying to us in our rural walks.

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The common glow-worm, the little planet of the rural scene,' may be observed in abundance in the month of August, when the earth is almost as thickly spangled with them as the cope of heaven is with stars. The glow-worm, like the cricket, lady-bird, and many other insects, makes but little use of its

wings; for they are seldom seen on any situation more elevated than the summit of a barley-ear, or. a stunted furze-bush; but are generally found on banks under hedges, and sometimes in the interstices of rugged elm-roots and the foundations of buildings.

To the GLOW-WORM.

Gem of the lone and silent vale,
Treasure of evening's pensive hour!

I come thy fairy rays to hail,

I come a votive strain to pour.

Nor chilly damps, nor paths untrod,

Shall from thy shrine my footsteps fright;
Thy lamp shall guide me o'er the sod,
And cheer the gathering mists of night.

Again the yellow fire impart;→
Lo! planets shed a mimic day ;
Lo! vivid meteors round me dart;
On western clouds red lightnings play!

But I disdain these garish fires,
Sporting on evening's sultry wing;
Thy humbler light my eye admires,
Thy soft retiring charms I sing.

Thine is an unobtrusive blaze,
Content in lowly shades to shine;
And much I wish, while thus I gaze,
To make thy modest merit mine.

For, long by youth's wild wishes cast
On the false world's tempestuous sea,
I seek retirement's shore at last,

And find a monitor in thee.

MRS. OPIE.

The solitary bee (apis manicata), and the white moth (phalana pacta), are observed in this month; the ptinus pectinicornis also makes its appearance. The larvae of this insect are very destructive to wooden furniture, boring holes in tables, chairs, bed-posts, &c.;-they are much inclined to lay their eggs in beech, hence this wood is less fit for the manufacture of domestic utensils. If their eggs are depo

sited on the surface, frequent rubbing will preserve wooden furniture.

The southern counties of England, particularly Surrey and Kent, now yield their valuable produce of hops, in this month. The common hop (humulus lupulus) is propagated either by nursery plants, or by cuttings. These are set in hills, formed by digging holes in the spring, which are filled with fine mould, and the number of which varies from 800 to 1000, or 1200 per acre. One, two, or three plants are put in each hill; but, if hops are designed to be raised from cuttings, four or five of these, from three to four inches in length, are planted and covered one inch deep with fine mould. Hops begin to flower about the latter end of June or the beginning of July. The poles are now entirely covered with verdure, and the pendent flowers appear in clusters and light festoous, and form an object infinitely more picturesque than the far-famed vineyards of France.

The hops, which are the scaly seed-vessels of the female plants, are, when the seed is formed (generally about the end of August), picked off by women and children for this purpose, the poles are taken up with the plants clinging to them. This and the subsequent operations necessary to fit the hop for the use of the brewer, are well described by Dr. Booker in his Hop-Garden,' a Poem :

Unsummoned, blithesome, now advance
The willing pickers to the garden's bound;
Where, placed to meet the moisture-drinking ray,
They plant the crib capacious. Soon commence
Their various tasks. All emulous to please,-
Some, loos'ning to and fro the wreathed poles,
Extract them from Earth's bosom, and them bear
To others stationed at the ready crib,
Who soon with nimble fingers them divest
Of all their blossomed pride. The spiral bines,
A seeming load, behold! the youngster-tribe
Hug in their little arms, and, high compiled,
Devote them to the flame. Consumed, these yield
The soil nutritious aliment saline,

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