Book Description

Excerpt from The Structure and Life-History of the Harlequin Fly (Chironomus) We have undertaken to give an account of this insect because we believe that its abundance nearly all round the year, its transparency, and the ease with which it can be reared, render it peculiarly fit for study by inland naturalists. Chironomus in its various stages has a very special biological interest, and we have thought that its inclusion in ordinary teaching-courses would be facilitated by such a description as is now offered. This insect has long been a favourite object with histologists, embryologists, and others, but its many points of interest had not been exhausted by our predecessors; we are well aware that they have not been exhausted by ourselves. It would be a real service to biology if we could incite the members of naturalists' clubs and other non-academic biologists to take up the study of life-histories. The lists of species, which are now printed so freely, have no particular scientific value. Meanwhile the life-histories of insects, which have in the past yielded facts of the greatest biological importance, are almost totally neglected. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.