NATURAL HISTORY. 3l 
carnivorous habits, they have obtained the name 
of King-fishers. 
The eyes of these creatures are very pro- 
minent, both in the larva and final state; and, 
from their size and curious structure, afford 
excellent objects for microscopic examination. 
In the perfect insect they have been a fruitful 
object of study to naturalists. They are im- 
moveably fixed on each side of the head, and 
are compound, each consisting of numerous 
distinct smaller ones. They are externally con- 
vex, and it has been observed by Latreille, that 
the eyes of insects in general are “by so much 
the more convex as the insect is more car- 
nassial.” Under a low magnifier the surface 
appears reticulated, which, on minute examina- 
tion, is found to arise from hexagonal cells, each 
forming a separate eye. Leeuwenhoek states 
that he has counted twelve thousand in one in- 
dividual. The cornea consists of lenses pos- 
sessing all the properties of those made of the 
usual transparent media, forming an image of 
bodies in the same manner, and capable of 
being employed as magnifiers. These interest- 
ing facts may be observed, by placing any ob- 
ject under the eye of the insect, and viewing it 
in a microscope, when each of the minute lenses 
