"True, boys, it was the gnat, which is an insect that spends the first part of its life in the water, and the latter part in the air. The grub of the gnat lives in water, and I will give you the whole history of this curious insect. We will first speak of the eggs, for out of these it is that the boat is made. In order to see this boat made, you must go early in the morning, between five and six o'clock, to a bucket, or pond of stagnant water, where gnats are to be found: if you go later you will not see it. The gnat's eggs are shaped something like a pocket powder-flask, and it is by putting a great many of these together that she makes the boat. To do this, the mother gnat stands by her fore-legs upon the side of the bucket, or on a leaf or stick in the pond, and her body is on a level with the water, and rests upon it, except the last ring of her tail, which she raises a little. She then crosses her two hind-legs in the shape of the letter X, and begins to put her eggs in that part of the X nearest to her body. So she brings her legs, crossed in this way, near to her body, and puts an egg in the angle, covered with a kind of glue, which will make the eggs stick together. On each side of the first egg she puts another in this shape .*., and here is a drawing of the insect at this part of her work. [Illustration: A Gnat making her Boat of Eggs.] "She then goes on adding eggs, which are all put in the water with their ends downwards, until she has got her boat half-finished; she then uncrosses her legs, and just keeps one on each side of the boat as she goes on, until she has completed it." "And how many eggs, Uncle Philip, will she put together in this way?" "From two hundred and fifty to three hundred and fifty, and when all are laid they make quite a good boat, sharp, and raised at both ends, and floating on the water. Then the mother gnat leaves it. Here is a picture of one of these boats. [Illustration] "Now I will tell you of what becomes of the young ones in these eggs. They come out of the lower part of the egg, and commonly swim, with their heads downward, near to the top of the water." "With their heads downward, Uncle Philip! what is that for?" "Why, they have a tube at the end of their bodies, near the tail, through which they breathe; and that part must, you know, be at the top to get air. Besides this, its tail and its breathing tube both end in a sort of funnel, made up of hairs placed somewhat in the form of a star, and covered with oil, so as to keep off water, and these buoy or float it up. When it wishes to sink, it just folds up its funnels, and shuts up in them a little bubble of air, which it breathes under the water; and when it wishes to rise, it opens its funnels, and they float it to the top again. Here is a drawing which will show it to you.