On the extreme left are shown the head and closed lancets of a foreign Gad-fly, the lancets being all in their sheaths, and showing the character of the weapon which enables a small fly to be master, or rather mistress, of the forest. I say mistress, because in all these cases it is the female alone that possesses these instruments of torture. Next it is a magnified representation of the lancets of the common Mosquito, as seen from above, both lancets being removed from their sheaths and separated. WAR AND HUNTING. CHAPTER IV. The Net, as used in Hunting and War.--The Seine-net, as used for Fishing.--Also as a means of Hunting.--Net for Elephant-catching.--Steel Net for Military Purposes.--Web of the Garden Spider.--The Casting-net, as used in Fishing.--Also as employed in the Combats of the ancient Circus.--Various Kinds of Casting-nets.--The Argus Star-fish and the Barnacle.--The Rod and Line.--Angling of various Kinds.--The Polynesian as an Angler.--The Angler-fish.--“Playing” a Fish.--The Nemertes and its Mode of Feeding.--Mr. Kingsley’s Account of it.--Power of Elongation and Contraction.--The Cydippe.--Spring-traps.--The Gin, Rat-trap, and Man-trap.--Jaws of Dolphin, Porpoise, and Alligator.--Legs of Phasma.--Baited Traps.--Carnivorous Plants and their Mode of Feeding.--Birdlime.--“Pegging” for Chaffinches.--Curious Mode of Tiger-killing.--Ant-eater and its Mode of Feeding.--The Drosera.--Web of Spider and its Structure. THE NET. Although the Net is but seldom employed for the purposes of general warfare, it was once largely used in individual combats, of which we will presently treat. In hunting, however, especially in fishing, the Net has been in constant use, and is equally valued by savages and the most civilised nations. To begin with the fisheries. Even among ourselves there are so many varieties of fishing-nets that even to enumerate them would be a work of time. However, they are all based on one of two principles, _i.e._ the nets which are set and the nets which are thrown. We will begin with the first. * * * * * ON the right hand of the illustration, and at the bottom, may be seen a common Seine-net being “shot” in the sea. This form of net is very long in proportion to its width, some of these nets being several miles long. The upper edge of the net is furnished with a series of cork bungs, which maintain it on the surface, while the lower edge has a corresponding set of weights, which keep the net extended like a wall of meshes. Any fish which come against this wall are, of course, arrested, and are generally caught by the gill-covers in their vain attempts to force themselves through the meshes.