the protection of angles,
and in slight cavities--which agrees well with the habits of the insects
in question. No doubt this was the true explanation of the phenomenon,
but it does not say much for the powers of observation which could have
attributed it to blood, for the colour is by no means that of blood,
especially _dried_ blood, but much more crimson; and the earthy deposit,
resembling chalk, which copiously remains after the fluid part has
evaporated, would in a moment convince any one who was in the habit of
comparing things which differ, that, whatever the substance was, blood
it certainly was not.

I myself not long ago met with an appearance which bore a much closer
resemblance to drops of blood than this, and which yet was referrible to
a widely different origin. In the neighbourhood of Ashburton, in Devon,
a quarter of a mile or so from the town, there is a shallow horse-pond,
the bottom of which consists of an impalpable whitish mud, much indented
with hoof-holes and other irregularities. In these, the water being
dimly clear from settlement, I observed what looked exactly like blood,
in numerous patches, the appearance being as if two or three drops of
blood had fallen in one spot, half-a-dozen in another, and so on. The
colour was true, and even when I alighted, and looked carefully on the
spots, they had just that curdled appearance that drops of blood assume
when they fall into still water. But there appeared on minute
examination a constant intestine motion in each spot, which caused me to
bring my eye closer, when I discovered that I had been egregiously
deceived. Each apparent drop of blood was formed of a number of slender
worms, about as thick as a hog's bristle, and an inch and a half long,
of a red hue, which protruded the greater part of their length from the
mud, in a radiating form, each maintaining a constant undulatory
movement. There were more or fewer centres of radiation, the circles
frequently interrupted by, and merging into, others, just as drops of
blood crowded together would do. On the slightest disturbance the little
actors shrank out of sight into the soft mud; but by scooping up a
little of this I contrived to get a number of them into a phial, which,
as the sediment settled, were seen at the bottom playing as if in their
pond. On examination of the specimens with a microscope I found them to
be minute Annelids, such as I have described, apparently of the genus
_Lumbriculus_ of