2o6 THE NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [ 2 :6-sept., 1906 



be wasted on plants which demand "just so" conditions. Bring and 

 make love to such as have to battle for existence in the fields or 

 woods for many generations. Relieve them of the fierce competition 

 and they will reward you with marvelous growth. Teachers who 

 hesitate from lack of knowledge to conduct such a garden, will find 

 the head gardeners in our parks usually very willing to give desired 

 information of plants and their habits of growth. Among the parents 

 of children in the schools are many florists who will gladly give 

 helpful suggestions. Often some of the teachers have the necessary 

 knowledge to take charge of the garden. Anyone who can get the 

 spot of land and really wants a garden, and will go persistently about 

 it, will be surprised at the willing cooperation they will receive. 

 Such a garden should not add care to already busy teachers, but 

 should be a relief and a help to them. 



THE COLORS OF BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS 



BY VERNON L. KELLOGG 

 Professor of Entomology, Stanford University 



A familiarity with the brilliant color-patterns of butterflies, com- 

 mon to all of us, is not always accompanied, even in the case of 

 teachers pretty thoroughly acquainted with the natural history of our 

 more usual animal kinds, by a knowledge of just how these colors art- 

 produced. Yet " what makes the colors?'" must be one of the first 

 questions asked by any beginning student of the butterflies. In the 

 following account I attempt to answer this question in a way that may 

 serve as a guide to teachers for the arrangement of some interesting 

 nature-study lessons. 



If the wing of a moth or butterfly be rubbed gently between the 

 finger and thumb, a spot on the wing will soon lose its color and 

 become transparent, while on the finger and thumb will be found a 

 fine sparkling powder, the "flour" of the miller-moth, the "jewel- 

 dust " of the butterfly. This dust, rubbed on a glass slide and 

 examined under the microscope, will be seen to be composed of sym- 

 metrical tiny scales each composed of a flattened blade and short 

 stem or pedicel. A considerable variety of shape will be noticeable 

 among these scales, and if scales are rubbed from other moths and 



