united to the thorax with a pedicle. Their shape resembles somewhat that of a wasp, but is much thinner. In some, the ovipositor is very long-far longer than the insect's body. In others it is very short. Fine as it invariably is, however, it is composed of three parts, the middle one being the piercing and depositing instrument, while the other two, situated one on either side, close over it, forming a sheath. Their long, many-jointed, sensitive antennæ appear to inform them of the situation of their prey, which nothing but water prevents them from tracking outa habit of theirs which has procured for them the name of ichneumon or tracking-out flies.

"All Nature is but art, unknown to thee;

All chance, direction, which thou canst not see;

All discord, harmony not understood;

All partial evil, universal good."

PANDORA'S BOX.

ALMOST everybody is familiar with the old legend of Pandora-the first mortal woman whom the gods made from clay.

When her form was completed the

deities endowed her with gifts of beauty, grace, and wealth; and finally, Jupiter gave her a locked box, which she was to hand over as a present to the man who married her. It would have been better for the world if Pandora had remained an old maid. But, alas! this was not to be. She got married and presented her box to her bridegroom, who, upon opening it, released a number of horrible little sprites. These wicked imps flew all over the world, and scattered

diseases and evils of all kinds. Such a multitude

came out that it was a wonder how the box could have held them. When the blackness caused by their flight had dispersed, the man looked into the fatal casket, and lo! at the bottom lay a beautiful form—

CATERPILLARS.

fly away as

WOOLLY BEAR, OR TIGER CATERPILLAR.

her companions had done; and, indeed, she appeared quite content to nestle in the man's bosom, and rest. The lovely creature was called Hope. Born in the days when man first sinned, she has lived with man. ever since, and clings to him from the moment of his intellectual birth to the end of his conscious life. Always fresh, always young, nearly always lively, she is alike the companion of the king upon the throne and the prisoner in his cell.

Not mankind alone, but Mother Nature herself is possessed of this gift of hope. In the winter tree

TIGER CATERPILLAR.

R

buds we see the promise of spring; in the lifeless seeds we behold next year's golden harvest ; the egg contains the germ of future life. So that in the depths of winter, when all looks bleak and bare, the bosom of the earth throbs with joyful hopes

and anticipations.