72 CHAPTER IX. 



it is much more abundant. The aged naturalist 

 Bruyat told me that he had seen Jasius quite plentiful 

 on the Nice Chateau hill. The Esterel is a good 

 locality, and an entomologist writes from Hyeres that 

 the insect is common there also. 



An intelligent nursery gardener in this town saw 

 a Jasius laying eggs upon a rose bush. He watched 

 the little caterpillars when they were hatched, and 

 found that they were able to subsist for a few days 

 upon this food, but soon perished unless transferred 

 to the leaves of an Arbutus. This butterfly resembles 

 the Camber well Beauty ( V. Antiopa) and some other 

 species in being fond of fruit : it is often seen perched 

 on the figs which are spread out on reed frames to dry. 

 It is also said to be attracted by decaying animal 

 matter, like the Purple Emperor (A. Iris). 



The fruit of the Arbutus is neglected by the 

 natives here, as in South Italy : it is allowed to rot on 

 the ground. If eaten in any quantity, it is said to 

 cause numbness of the head, and even paralysis. I 

 do not remember ever to have eaten more than a 

 hatful at one time. 



The Arbutus is liable to a ."false quantity": 

 many people call it Arbutus. There is no excuse for 

 this. As Professor Marsh has shown, the English 

 language tends to throw the accent to the left ; so that 

 even if the Latin word had the penult long, it would 

 naturally become a dactyl in English, just as the Greek 

 word " theatre," pronounced a few years ago with the 

 accent on the " a," has now become " theatre." In 

 " Erica " the case is the reverse ; we treat it as an 

 English word, and place the accent on the first 

 syllable, whereas the "i"was originally long. The 



