The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1880-09-03

| But this hood is only the natural
Had dress. These little wat ehymhhs
dkp't really wear their hoQd6 for bob
Is to keep them from tain cold, but
they are really masks. and very curious
ones, too. This mask. is made Of.
hinges, slides and hooks. and it is their
trap to, get living. When they see
something which they would relish for
dinner, the hinges spring open. the
slides shove out, and the hooks cling
in, and in one instant of time their prey
| is secured. And that is the way these
dumpish-lookin little chaps Ego a
fishing" You surely would never call
them dull fellows if you should once see
the lively way they serve up refresh
ments. Quicker than we can tell it,
they pack their lunch baskets from cap
sized gnat and mosquito boats, and they
overtake the swift little tadpoles and
serve them up in "smacking good'
meat-pies. @T "a - 40
Perhaps you would like to know how
these little fellows get about. so fast.
Neither fins nor paddles of any kind
are used in chasing their, prey, nor to
help them handle it when caught. But
to get about they have q way of their
own, and, few years ago, British
war vessel was built to go by 3 method
like theirs.
You may have read that Benjamin
franklin once had an idea that boat
could be made with a pump in the
stern, by which water could be drawn
in and pumped out with such force as
to prOpel the boat along. But. the in
genious Franklin, although he could
coax lightning from the clouds and
make it obey him, had to give up the
idea of pumping boats about. And
here is just where this little grub
beats the great philosopher. In the
stern of his little worm-skin boat he
has pump that works like charm.
When the little nymph wants to 60 on
an exploring voyage his clever little
muscles instantly set the pump at work,
and away shoots the boat like arocket,
while at the prov of the boat is the
masked pirate, always ready for his
booty. He is very voracious, and BAN
quets on multitudes of little creatures
during the one year of his grub life.
At the end of the year, the little
pump boat that has served him so well
is anchored to water-plant. and in two
hours Jack, the sailor grub, starts out
on another voyage.
But this is an aerial trip. He hoists
sail, unfolding four lovely wings of
gauze, and speeds away into the air,
the rich-rObed monarch of the insect
world.
To every enemy of insects the dragon
fly is a friend, for what uncounted
hosts of water-insects does the swift
boat of this pirate overtake before it
comes to shore, and what swarms and
swarms of little animal life have. been
buried in that one grave-the vora-
cious, never-satisied, long stomach of
the great insect dragon!
But only insects have reason to fear
him; and he generally proves quite So
ciable with the boys and girls who
cross his path, knowing himself well
insured against capture by his swift
darting wings and myriad eyes. You
will find him much more difficult to
catch than his Cousin Butterfly, but
when you 60 fishing he will fit along
the bank in front Of you as you wade
through marshy places, or hover above
the tangle of drift-wood near which you
have dropped your line, as if he en-
joyed your company. Now and then,
perhaps, he will even poise gracefully for
a moment above your outstretchedrod,
or silently settle on the very same log
on which you are seated, and almost
within reach of your hand. Make the
slightest motion to entrap him. and see
how quickly he is gone! Yet he does
not go far, returning sometimes to the
very spot from which you drove him
away. Be sure, then, that at least
some hundreds of his thousand eyes are
on you; but, though he is such terror
to his own tribe and kindred, he is at
peace with all mankind, and you may
become acquainted with this beautiful
but fierce darning-needle with as much
safety as with the homely, stupid one
in grandmother's stocking-basket.- st.
Nicholas. !