52 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, 



"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." 



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, 



