OX NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS. 



from them. I nourished them with great care, feeding 

 them with sugar, their favorite food, but they died in about 

 ten days, and with their life disappeared also their light. 



I feel peculiarly grateful to these little insects, because 

 during my excursions in St. Domingo they were frequently 

 the means of saving my life. Often has dark night sur 

 rounded me in the midst of a desert forest, or on the mount 

 ains, when these little animals were my only guide, and by 

 their welcome light I have discovered a path for my horse 

 which has led me safely on my journey. Often have I felt 

 grateful to a wise Providence for the creation of these lit 

 tle night-illuminators, when all the lamps of heaven were 

 shrouded with impenetrable darkness, and when, but for 

 their light-giving presence, I should have wandered for 

 hours in a dreary forest, or been precipitated from a mount 

 ain ridge down a fathomless abyss. Thrice often have I 

 been convinced that no object of Nature was created with 

 out being designed for some important use, and many, many 

 times, in my wanderings, have I exclaimed with Southey, 



&quot;Sorrowing we beheld 



The night come on : but soon did night display 

 More wonders than it vail d : innumerous tribes 

 From the wood-cover swarmed, and darkness made 

 Their beauties visible ; a while they streamed 

 A bright blue radiance upon flowers that closed 

 Their gorgeous colors from the eye of day ; 

 Then, motionless and dark, eluded search, 

 Self-shrouded ; and anon, starring the sky, 

 Rose like a shower of fire.&quot; 



These Lightning Beetles are found in all the West India 

 Islands, in Mexico, and Texas, and how far north they are 

 seen I can not exactly ascertain, but several species of 

 them, possessing the same luminous qualities, are found in 

 the tropics of America. 



Their light is emitted from a phosphorescent substance, 



