THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 



139 



with its brilliant holiday robe, and launch itself, like a bird, 

 into the atmosphere ? 



Gall and Camper, who computed the intelligence of mam- 

 mals according to the proportion of the brain or the facial 

 angle, would have found something also to observe in in- 

 sects. It has been remarked, indeed, that the most intelli- 

 gent among them possess a more centralized nervous system 

 than the others, and a proportionally larger head. 



72. Coleoptera of the family of Carabidae. 



This observation has been made by celebrated physiolo- 

 gists in respect to bees and spiders, which assuredly possess 

 more elevated faculties than any other animals of their 

 tribe. Ratzeburg, indeed, in the magnificent plates of his 

 work, represents the brain of the bee in order to give an 

 idea of its bulk. 



It is well known that Camper considered that the more 

 acute the facial angle in animals the lower their intelli- 



