March 1, 1866.] 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



55 



seek them out. Let us hope the Black-cap, or some 

 of his relations, may make many a feast on them, 

 and by thus clearing the trees give us fair reason to 

 sing the olden charm said to have been formerly 

 constantly practised in the great orchard districts, 

 such as I saw this autumn in many of our south- 

 western counties glowing with loads of richer and 

 ruddier gold than the fabled gardens of the Hespe- 

 rides. On the eve of Twelfth-night, it was the 

 custom for the farmer and his work-people to go out 

 into the orchard after supper with a large milk-pan 

 full of cider, having roasted apples pressed into it, 

 Oat of this each person in company took an earthen- 

 ware cup full of liquor ; and, standing under each of 

 the most fruitful of the apple-trees, addressed it 

 thus : — 



Health to thee, good apple-tree, 

 Well to bear pockets full, hats full, 

 Pecks full, bushel-bags full — 



and then, drinking part of the contents, threw the 

 rest, with the remnants of the roasted apples, at the 

 tree, and at each cup the company set up a great 

 shout. There are many curious old customs and 

 legends about the apple-tree recorded in Hone's 

 "Everyday Book." P. S. B. 



THE SCALES OE INSECTS. 



NO more apt illustration could be given of the 

 truth of the proverb, " All is not gold that 

 glitters," than these minute structures. The illu- 

 sion in many cases is complete : the scales of the 

 various sorts of Diamond Beetle, for instance, 

 resemble the polished surface of the precious 

 metal so closely, that no description, without refer- 

 ence to gold and jewels, can convey an idea of the 

 splendour which enwraps many of them ; and it 

 requires an effort to certify the mind that the 

 brilliant reflections are, in reality, not metallic. 



Many observers have vainly endeavoured to 

 satisfy themselves as to the precise cause of the 

 phenomenon. Theories have been put forward on 

 the subject, but we are yet in ignorance why certain 

 scales, presenting under transmitted light a uniform 

 semi-transparent appearance, and similar markings, 

 should, under reflected light, differ widely from 

 each other— some reflecting green, others blue, 

 others red, and others again yellow. Even in the 

 same scale great contrasts are observable. 



It is to be noticed, that in all cases, when colour 

 appears to be really present, the scales are to a great 

 degree opaque when viewed by transmitted light. 

 This is especially the case with those more deeply 

 coloured, such as brown, black, and dark red. 



Another point is, that a great similarity obtains 

 in the tracery of these opaque scales of lepidoptera, 

 which may be well observed in those coloured light 

 red, yellow, and white, even although they vary in 

 outline, and be procured from different insects. The 



darker scales cannot be examined with so much 

 facility. 



In the earlier days of microscopical inquiry, cer- 

 tain selections from these objects were used to test 

 the glasses of high magnifying power; but such 

 great progress has been made iu this manufacture, 

 that nowadays their employment for this purpose 

 is almost abandoned. Nevertheless, some of them 

 still decline to reveal their beauties, except through 

 the medium of the most exquisite specimens of the 

 optician's skill. 



The intention in this chapter is, to bring forward 

 such examples for special description as are notable 

 for their departure from the general type, or are 

 interesting to the microscopist for various reasons, 

 beauty in particular. 



Fig. 54. Scale of Papiliu Paris x 350. 



The gorgeous scales of the Papilio Paris, a rela- 

 tive of our Swallow-tail Butterfly, are remarkable, 

 not only for their brilliancy by reflected light, out 

 also for the curious branched pattern to be seen 

 when they are viewed as transparent objects. On 



Fig. 55. Scale of Morpho Menelaus x 450. 



