BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS. 73 



tacle more magnificent than human skill could 

 perform ; the flame of a candle seemed a beauti- 

 ful illumination. It still, however, remains a 

 doubt, whether the insect sees objects singly, as 

 with one eye, or whether every facet is itself a 

 complete eye, exhibiting its own object distinct 

 from all the rest. 



Butterflies, as well as most other flying insects, 

 have two instruments like horns on their heads, 

 which are commonly called feelers. They differ 

 from the horns of greater animals, in being move- 

 able at their base, and in having a great number 

 of joints, by which means the insect is enabled to 

 turn them in every direction. Those of butter- 

 flies are placed at the top of the head, pretty near 

 the external edge of each eye. What the use of 

 these instruments may be, which are thus formed 

 with so much art, and by a Workman who does 

 nothing without reason, is as yet unknown to man. 

 They may serve to guard the eye, they may be 

 of use to clean it, or they may be the organ of 

 some sense which we are ignorant of; but this is 

 only explaining one difficulty by another. 



We are not so ignorant of the uses of the trunk, 

 which few insects of the butterfly kind are with- 

 out. This instrument is placed exactly between 

 the eyes ; and when the animal is not employed 

 in seeking its nourishment, it is rolled up like a 

 curl. A butterfly, when it is feeding, flies round 

 some flower, and settles upon it. The trunk is 

 then uncurled, and thrust out either wholly or in 

 part, and is employed in searching the flower to 

 its very bottom, let it be ever so deep. This 



