“Oh! mamma,” cried Agnes, “I have found some of the most beautiful beetles I ever saw in my life. Do look how brilliantly they are marked with scarlet and white! They must be something very rare and curious, I should think.” “No, they are by no means uncommon; and they are called Tiger beetles, from their savage nature; for they are carnivorous, and devour all the weaker insects that fall in their way.” “How sorry I am to hear that! Who could have thought that such beautiful creatures could be cruel? But may I put them in a piece of paper, mamma, and take them home?” “I am afraid you would then be as cruel as the beetles, and with less excuse; as they devour other insects for food, and you would torture them for no purpose, but to gratify a passing wish.” [Illustration: _Fig. 35._ TIGER BEETLES (_Cicindela_). ] “But, mamma, Aunt Jane and Aunt Mary both have collections of insects; and I am sure they are not cruel; and you know I have some moths and butterflies at home that Aunt Mary gave me.” “Your aunts are both entomologists, and have made collections of insects for scientific purposes; besides, they know how to kill the insects they take without giving them much pain; but you would only torture these poor beetles by keeping them alive a day or two without food, or, at any rate, in a miserable place of confinement.” “Very well, mamma,” cried Agnes; “then I will set them free, and take them back to where I found them;” and she ran off as fast as possible. When she returned, almost out of breath, her mamma laughed at her for taking so much trouble. “If you had put the beetles down here,” said she, “they would soon have found their way back, if they had wished to do so; for they are remarkably active, and their legs are so long, in proportion to their bodies, that, I think, they can even run faster than you can. So you have given yourself quite unnecessary trouble.” “Oh! I don’t mind that,” cried Agnes; “I like running.” “So I perceive,” said Mrs. Merton, smiling; “for you are like a little spaniel, you run two or three times over the same ground.” Mrs. Merton had scarcely finished speaking when Agnes darted off again, like lightning, and soon came back, bringing with her some shells. “Now, mamma,” said she, “I think I have really found something that is rare: you always say the things I find are so common; but I am sure these snails are very different from any I ever saw before.” “I am sorry to say, however, that they are found, in great abundance, in many places; and sometimes they appear so suddenly, and in such immense quantities, as to give rise to the idea that they must have fallen from the clouds. I do not know their popular name, but naturalists call them _Helix virgata_. They are remarkable for the thinness of their shells, and they are so small that two or three have been found adhering to a single blade of grass.”