Possibly the same phial in which was brought home the last-named larvæ with the rat's tail, will furnish us with an equally elegant instance of larva-respiration under water, in the case of the larva of a fly, called the chameleon fly. This little creature, if it can be found, and though not as common as the last, it may yet be detected, in summer by the edge of ponds, &c., has truly elegant habits. The great Swammerdam, who first described it, was lost in admiration at it. The extremity of its body is furnished with a coronet of about thirty elegantly feathered hairs. These are under the control of the insect, and are capable of being folded up, so as to enclose a minute bubble of air. When the larva is weary of remaining at the top of the water, and wishes to dive to the still and cool depths below, it causes these hairs so to fold up and close upon each other as to include the air-bubble, so that it cannot escape. Thus furnished with a pearl in its tail, it plunges downward, and thus breathes under water until the purity of the captive air-bubble is impaired, when it returns to the surface to repeat the same operations. The appearance of the little bubble shining, with a brilliant silvery lustre under the water, is very pleasing, and accounts for the enthusiastic expressions used by Swammerdam, in speaking of the visible manifestation of the skill of God in this insect. The fact of an insect coming to the surface for air, and stealing away a portion, then diving down again into the waters, is not uncommon in insect history, although few are possessed of so elegant a contrivance for effecting it as the larva in question. We must pass on to mention an instance or two of larvæ which, from the peculiarity of their respiration, come under the second of our divisions, that is, they live in the water, and do not breathe air, but obtain the gas necessary for their respiration _from the water_, which holds it in a state of solution. We shall first speak of the larva of the common May-fly, the perfect insect of which is so well known to, and highly prized by, anglers, under the various names of "duns" and "drakes," than which in some streams no insect that flies is a better bait to the unwary fish. Should the reader wish to examine them for himself, they may be found in May or June, hiding themselves during the day in the mud, or underneath stones, or in little holes in the banks, or taking a sub-aqueous tour upon the bed of the brook, while the clear and purling waters roll smoothly on above them. Their little under-water cells are shown in the cuts, together with the larva. [Illustration: _Cells of May-fly Larva._] [Illustration: _Larva and section of its cell._]