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Show ORIGIN OJ!' SOCIETY. CANTO I v. 132 'The cruel larva mines its silky course, And tears the vitals of its fostering nurse. While fierce Libellula with jaws of steel In gulfs an insect~province at a meal; Contending bee-swarms rise on rustling wings, And slay their thousands with envenom'd stings. " Yes l smiling Flora drives her armed car 'Through the thick ranks of vegetable war; 40 cocoon like a silk worm; these cocoons are about the size of a small pin's head, and I have seen abou~ ten of ~hem on each cabbage cater- })illar, which soon dies after then· exclus1?n. . . Other species of ichneumon insert the1r eggs mto the aph1s, ;;mel, into the larva of the aphidivorous fly: others into the bedegu· r of rose trees, and the gall-nuts of oaks; whence those excre.sccnces seem to be produced, as well as the hydaticlcs in the frontal smus of sheep and calves by the stimulus of the larvoc deposited in th em. . . TVhilefierce Libellula, I. 37. The L~bellula or Dragon-fly I 'l s~u d to be a most voracious an,imal; Linneus says in their perfect st:ttc t cy are the hawl s to naked winged flies; in their larva state they nm beneath the water, and are the cruel crocodiles of aquatic insects. Syst. Nat. Contending bee-stvarms, 1. 39. Stronger bee-§warms frequently attack weak hives, and in two or three days destroy th em and carry away their honey; this I once prevented by removing the attacked hive after the first day's battle to a distinct part of the garden. See Phytologia, Sect. XIV. 3. 7. CANTO !V. OF GOOD AND EVIL. ' Herb, shrub, and tree, with strong emotions rise F-or light and air, and battle in the skies· . ' Whose roots diverging with opposing toil Contend below for moisture and for soil· ' Round the tall Elm the flattering Ivies bend, And strangle, as they clasp, their struggling friend; Envenom'd dews from Mancinella flow, 133 And scald with caustic touch the tribes below; Dense shadowy leaves on stems aspiring borne With blight and mildew thin the realms of corn; And insect hordes with restles~ tooth devour 50 The unfolded bud, and pierce the ravell'd flower. " In ocean's pearly haunts, the waves beneath Sits the grim monarch of insatiate Death; The shark rapacious with descending blow Darts on the scaly brood, that swims belo·w; The shark 'rapacious, 1. 57. The shark has three rows of sharp teeth within each other, which he can bend downwards in ternally to aclmi t larger prey, and raise to prevent its r eturn ; his snout hang |