INSECTS : THEIR EAKS AN D EYES. 1 83 



CHAPTER X. 



INSECTS : THEIR EARS AND EYES. 



A VERY wide field of observation, and one easily cul- 

 tivated, is presented by the organs of sense in the in- 

 sect races, and in particular by those curious jointed 

 threads which proceed from the front or sides of the 

 head, and which are technically called antenncB. These 

 may sometimes be confounded with the palpi^ examples 

 of which organs we have been lately looking at ; for 

 in a carnivorous Beetle, for instance, both palpi and 

 antennce are formed of a number of oblong, polished 

 hard joints, set end to end, like beads on a necklace. 

 And it is probable there may be as much community 

 in the function as in the form of these two sets of 

 appendages ; that both are the seats of some very deli- 

 cate perceptive faculty allied to touch, but of which we 

 cannot, from ignorance, speak very definitely. It is 

 likely, indeed, that sensations of a very variable char- 

 acter are perceived by them, according to their form, 

 the degree of their development, and the habits of the 

 species. 



It is not impossible, judging from the very great 

 diversity which we find in the form and structure of 

 these and similar organs in this immense class of beings, 

 compared with the uniformity that prevails in the or- 

 gans of sense bestowed on ourselves and other verte- 



