Now the moth goes on this principle. Its eggs are shaped like the bowl of a wine-glass, and the smaller end is put next to the branch. They are all glued together, too, with a kind of gum, which will not dissolve or melt in water; so that the rain cannot injure them. Here is a picture of these eggs. [Illustration: Eggs of the Lackey-moth, wound spirally round a twig of hawthorn; natural size, and magnified.] "There is another insect, boys, which has something like tweezers; though I think they resemble pincers most." "What is it, Uncle Philip?" "The boys call it father long-legs, and I dare say you have often seen it. It is the crane-fly, and its pincers are used for putting its egg in the hole it has made for it." "Where does it put its eggs, Uncle Philip?" [Illustration: Ovipositor and Eggs of the Crane-fly.] "In the earth, boys; and to enable the insect to do this, the female has the pincers I spoke of: they are made of something like horn, and are sharp at the point. With these she first bores a hole in the ground, and then puts the egg in. The egg is like a grain of gunpowder, and she puts herself in a very curious posture to bore the hole. Here, boys, you may see a picture of the pincers as they appear through a microscope, for they are not near as large as the picture. And here is a drawing of one boring." [Illustration: Crane-fly ovipositing, and the larva beneath, in the earth, feeding upon grass roots.] "What good pincers those are, Uncle Philip: but will you tell us one thing which we wish to know? Talking about the crane-fly has put me in mind of it: the other day we were sitting together in school, and the wall over our heads was covered with common flies; and when we came out, we were talking about the way in which the fly stuck to the wall without falling down; and as we could not tell what kept him up, we agreed to ask you about it." "I will tell you, boys, very willingly. I do not wonder that you were unable to tell how the fly stuck to the wall; for you never tried to find out, and therefore could only guess at it." "And that is not a good way to find out any thing, Uncle Philip?" "No, boys; though some persons much older than you are, did nothing but guess about this very thing, and guessed very far from the truth too. Some thought that the fly had a sponge in its foot, and squeezed a sort of glue out of it which made it stick fast; others said that the glass or wall was so rough that the fly's feet would catch hold of the little points upon it; but both were wrong." "How does it hold on, Uncle Philip?"