SCALE-WINGED INSECTS, 



379 



Scales of Insects Wings magnified. 



tude of exquisite scales, of the singular forms 

 represented. The engraving shows the shape 

 of the scales on the wings of these insects ; on 

 examination with a y 



good lens, it ap- | f, ffi |j) f 

 pears that the long V V V V 

 and hair-like scales \ 

 are planted at the 

 margin of the wings, 

 and contribute to 

 give to the edges 

 that beautiful feathery look which is so much 

 admired, while the short scales were placed prin- 

 cipally on the middle portion of the wings ; their 

 numbers are almost infinite. If a butterfly is 

 allowed to flutter awhile in a box it will cover 

 every portion of its surface with them, and yet, 

 on being permitted to fly out, we may scarcely 

 perceive that it has lost any of its fairy plumes. 

 Whether Leuwenhoek actually took the trouble 

 to count so many, or arrived at the result from 

 calculation after counting those on a given space, 

 we do not know, but he declares that he found 

 more than four hundred thousand on the wings 

 of the silk-worm moth; and in those of larger 



