268 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



of my travelling companion, when on ray nearer approach 

 the whole flower dissolved into a swarm of butterflies. 



I afterwards saw another beautiful flower of the same kind, 

 in which the petals were composed of a number of the red 

 Pietis Zarinda, along with some yellow and white Pieridce, 

 in another part of South-west Celebes, in one of the above- 

 mentioned places, where butterflies, especially PapilioiiidcB 

 and PieridcB, love to resort,) usl above the beautiful waterfall of 

 Maros, which Wallace has described ; and I saw there at 

 the same time something which I never saw before or after- 

 wards, and had never heard or read of before, — for there I 

 saw a butterfly bathing. 



While I stood on the bank of the river, which forms at 

 this spot an ap))arenlly still and very clear pool before 

 entering the cleft in the rock, from which it reappears as a 

 foaming and thundering waterfall, a specimen of Pa/)/lio 

 Helenus, Linn., came flying over the water. Flying low, as 

 is the habit of this species, it came within a short distance of 

 me, when I saw it suddenly half-close its wings and dive 

 down close beside me, so that the whole body and about a 

 third of the wings, which slanted upwards, were immersed; it 

 then raised itself again out of the water and flew away. We 

 cannot require stronger proof of the necessity of moisture to 

 an insect w hich seems so little fitted for contact with water. 



Just as some plants in the East Indies choose the dryest 

 localities parched up by the burning sun, so do some butter- 

 flies select similar spots, — such, for instance, as Jutwuia 

 Orilliya, Linn., — and without needing rest enjoy settling on 

 the scorching hot sand. And like other plants which choose 

 very damp and deeply shaded localities in the forest, where 

 no ray of sunlight can penetrate, some SatyridcB and other 

 butterflies, usually of dark colours, love to haunt these dark 

 and dripping nooks. Again, as the most beautiful and 

 vigorous tropical vegetation is developed where the fiery 

 beat of the sun is coupled with great dampness, so do 

 the largest and most brilliant butterflies delight to frequent 

 such places, where they rejoice in the sunshine, and iiave 

 also the dampness which they so much need. It is worth 

 mentioning that among these last butterflies this is not due, 

 as in other insects, to the peculiarity of their habits and 

 surroundings, but the explanation is to be found either in 



