Fossil Insects 
which at one time tenanted the globe, are paralleled by recent 
discoveries made in insect-bearing strata in France. M. Charles 
Brongniart of the Paris Museum is preparing an account of the 
collection which he has made at Commentry, and among the 
creatures which he proposes to figure is an insect which is 
regarded by Brongniart as one of the forerunners of our dragon¬ 
flies, which had an expanse of wing of two feet, a veritable giant 
in the insect world. 
Of fossil butterflies there have thus far been discovered sixteen 
species. Of these, six belong to the subfamily of the Nymphali- 
dce , and five of the six were found in the fossiliferous strata of 
Florissant, Colorado. Two species belong to the subfamily Saty- 
rince , both occurring in deposits found in southern France, and 
representing genera more nearly allied to those now found in 
India and America than to the Satyrince existing at the present 
time in Europe. One of the fossils to which reference has al¬ 
ready been made belongs to the subfamily of the Libytheince. 
The remainder represent the subfamilies of the Pierince, the 
Papilionince , and the family Hesperiidce . 
It is remarkable that the butterflies which have been found in 
a fossil state show a very close affinity to genera existing at the 
present time, for the most part, in the warmer regions of the 
earth. Though ages have elapsed since their remains were 
embedded in the mud which became transformed into stone, 
the processes of life have not wrought any marked structural 
changes in the centuries which have fled. This fixity of type 
is certainly remarkable in creatures so lowly in their organi¬ 
zation. 
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