Excerpt from The Philosophical Magazine, Vol. 23: Comprehending the Various Branches of Science, the Liberal and Fine Arts, Agriculture, Manufactures, and Commerce; For October, November, and December, 1805; And January 1806 The legs of these insects, which are eight in number, are so small in proportion to the bulk of their bodies, that if the creatures happen to fall from any eminent part of the fly, upon which they feed, and get upon their backs, they are as unable to recover their feet as a tortoise; partly on account of their want of the vertebral joints or spines, and partly from the inconsiderable weight of their legs to form a counterpoise. But what they are deficient in in these re 'peets is by provident nature compensated for by their ln genuity and address, as is plain by their taking advantage of any adventitious opportunity for their relief that may present itself, and which they have the sagacity to improve and make subservient to their present convenience: for, each leg being composed of four articulations terminating in a double talon, they catch hold of as many of their young as are adequate to form a sufficient weight of lever, when properly applied, to restore them; to which purpose they place themall on one side; and so completely counter act the weight of their bodies, and recover their lost po sitiou. 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.