48 



THE POPULAR EDUCATOE. 



inspection shows a remarkable bit of living mechanism. The 

 trunk is found to consist of three sucker-like tubes, secured in 

 an elegant case, the whole protected from injury by horny 

 defences and supports. This complex tube is not thicker than 

 a hair, and through this all the food of the butterfly must be 

 conveyed. Does not so fine a tube get clogged up sometimes 

 from the thick flowery juices in which the winged beauty de- 

 lights ? Yes, there is a liability to this ; for, though a butterfly 

 cannot have toothache, he is not quite free from all accidents. 

 What does the insect do then ? Clears out his trunk, of 

 course, the mechanism of the central tube allowing it to be opened 

 for this purpose. Is not this a beautiful provision, enabling the 

 butterfly to be 

 its own sur- 

 geon in so 

 dangerous a 

 crisis? "Doth 

 God care for 

 oxen ? " is a 

 question put 

 in an ancient 

 book. It is 

 also clear that 

 the wants of a 

 butterfly have 

 been wonder- 

 fully cared for 

 by the Creator. 

 A whole paper 

 might be filled 

 with the de- 

 scription of 

 the sucker 

 or trunk of 

 the butterfly. 

 We can only 

 state here that 

 it seems to be 

 formed of a 

 countless 

 number of fine 

 elastic rings, 

 moved by a 

 multitude of 

 muscles. Some 

 naturalists 

 have supposed 

 the muscles in 

 this small and 

 delicate organ 

 to exceed in 

 number those 

 in the ele- 

 phant's trunk : 

 these are es- 

 timated at 

 70,000. Space 

 does not ad- 

 mit of our say- 

 ing more about 



the marvels to t. SWALLOW-TAIL BUTTERFLY (PAPILIO MACHAOK). 2. FIDONIA PLUMISTARIA. 3. MARBLED WHITE BUTTER- 

 be seen on the FLY (PAPILIO GALATHEA). 4. EGGS OF BUTTERFLIES. 5. CATERPILLAR. 6. CHRYSALIS. 7. SCALES OF 



head of a but BUTTERFLIES' WINGS. 



terfly. 



We have but a few lines to remark that the nerves and 

 digestive system of the butterfly have been closely examined by 

 naturalists, and would require a volume to describe them fully. 

 * As giddy as a butterfly" is a remark applied to some pretty 

 bipeds ; but the insect's so-called giddiness is really its work, by 

 which it gets its living, speeding from flower to flower for food. 

 A " Purple Emperor's" brain maybe as much taxed by these 

 labours, as that of the said biped's, by reading three sets of 

 novels in one week. The nervous system of the butterfly is 

 near the stomach, so that " weak nerves " must tell upon the 

 digestion of a " Blue Argus " or " White Admiral." It will 

 easily be imagined that the nerves connected with the complex 

 eye and wonderful trunk of a butterfly must form an elaborate 

 microscopical system. When speaking of a butterfly's brain, 



we alludo rather to the whole nervous mass than to one organ, 

 like that found in the larger animals. The brains of insects 

 may in truth be called many. If we insist upon finding one 

 brain, the first knot, or ganglion as it is called, in the spinal 

 marrow, may be so regarded. The same remark must be made 

 respecting the heart, which is not one organ, but consists of 

 numerous circulating vessels. A butterfly may be as truly said 

 to have many hearts as one. 



The nine air-holes on each side, eighteen in all, may be re- 

 garded as so many nostrils by which the air enters. Naturalists 

 call them spiracles. 



How many species of these insects are found in Britain? 



About 70; 

 but some are 

 only met with 

 in limited dis- 

 tricts, and few 

 persons have 

 seen them all 

 in their native 

 haunts. Tho 

 total number 

 of known spe- 

 cies is about 

 3,000. 



Readers who 

 wish to make 

 a collection 

 should endea- 

 vour to obtain 

 the caterpillar, 

 chrysalis, and 

 butterfly of 

 each species ; 

 they will then 

 possess a spe- 

 cimen of each 

 form of life 

 through which 

 the insect 

 passes. No 

 one will, of 

 course, run a 

 pin through a 

 butterfly to 

 secure it, be- 

 fore either 

 killing or be- 

 numbing the 

 creature, by 

 placing it in 

 a vessel, into 

 which some 

 chloroformhaK 

 been dropped. 

 The captive 

 may also be 

 killed by a 

 " nip," or 

 pinch between 



The "hug" is 

 fatal to the 

 whole family. 



Poets, philosophers, and theologians have used the butterfly 

 to illustrate their sentiments. The ancients regarded the bright 

 ethereal creature as a symbol of the human soul, searching 

 after a higher home and a more perfect life. A noble being, 

 called Psyche (the soul), was described as falling in love with 

 visible beauty, then losing through her folly the bright posses- 

 sion, and after a sorrowful search, finding again the long-lost 

 and glorious prize. This Psyche was represented under the form 

 of a butterfly, and such marbles may be seen in the Townley 

 Collection in the British Museum. We all know that Christians 

 have long deemed the uprising of so bright a form, from the 

 chrysalis-like grave, as a type of the resurrection. Thus, even 

 a butterfly, sculptured on a tomb, may suggest a volume of rich 

 and ennobling thoughts. 



