s still further to add to the
appearance of a leaf. One of the most marvellous incidents connected
with its organisation was exhibited by one which I kept under a glass
shade on my table; it laid a quantity of eggs, that, in colour and
shape, were not to be discerned from _seeds_. They were brown and
pentangular, with a short stem, and slightly punctured at the
intersections.

[Illustration: EGGS OF THE LEAF INSECT.]

The "soothsayer," on the other hand _(Mantis superstitiosa_ Fab.[1]),
little justifies by its propensities the appearance of gentleness, and
the attitudes of sanctity, which have obtained for it its title of the
praying mantis. Its habits are carnivorous, and degenerate into
cannibalism, as it preys on the weaker individuals of its own species.
Two which I enclosed in a box were both found dead a few hours after,
literally severed limb from limb in their encounter. The formation of
the foreleg enables the tibia to be so closed on the sharp edge of the
thigh as to amputate any slender substance grasped within it.

[Footnote 1: _M. aridifolia_ and _M. extensicollis_, as well as _Empusa
gongyloides_, remarkable for the long leaf-like head, and dilatations on
the posterior thighs, are common in the island.]

_The Stick-insect_--The _Phasmidoe_ or spectres, another class of
orthoptera, present as close a resemblance to small branches or leafless
twigs as their congeners do to green leaves. The wing-covers, where they
exist, instead of being expanded, are applied so closely to the body as
to detract nothing from its rounded form, and hence the name which they
have acquired of "_walking-sticks_." Like the _Phyllium_, the _Phasma_
lives exclusively on vegetables, and some attain the length of several
inches.

Of all the other tribes of the _Orthoptera_ Ceylon possesses many
representatives; in swarms of cockroaches, grasshoppers, locusts, and
crickets.

NEUROPTERA. _Dragon-flies._--Of the _Neuroptera_, some of the
dragon-flies are pre-eminently beautiful; one species, with rich
brown-coloured spots upon its gauzy wings, is to be seen near every
pool.[1] Another[2], which dances above the mountain streams in Oovah,
and amongst the hills descending towards Kandy, gleams in the sun as if
each of its green enamelled wings had been sliced from an emerald.[3]

[Footnote 1: _Libellula pulchella._]

[Footnote 2: _Euphoea splendens_, Hagen.]

[Footnote 3: _Gymnacantha subinterrupta_, Ramb. distinguished by its