-papular Btctumari) ai ftnimxttto jlatur*. 37.' 



to small and useless appendages: these wings 

 are of large size, and are not folded up ; the 

 two fine layers of membrane of which the 

 wings are composed, like the upper and 

 lower surface of a leaf, are kept expanded 

 by a number of longitudinal corneous veins, 

 or nerves, as they have been called." * * * * 

 ' The wings in this order offer another pecu- 

 liarity, since, instead of being naked and 

 transparent, they are clothed with a double 

 layer of minute scales, somewhat resembling 

 those of fishes. These scales, upon which 

 the beauty of these insects so entirely de- 

 pends, are easily detached in the form of a 

 fine dust, and, when examined under the 

 microscope, are exceedingly variable in their 

 form, but generally more or less wedge- 

 shaped, or oval ; sometimes toothe_d or 

 notched at the broadest end, and having a 

 slender point at the base, by which they are 

 attached upon the membranous surface of 

 the wing, which, when denuded, presents 

 the appearance of numerous minute impres- 

 sions arranged in lines, in which the base 

 of the scales are planted, being laid upon 

 each other like the tiles on the roof of a 

 house. The number of these scales is very 

 great, there being more than 400,000 on the 

 wings of the silkworm moth, according to 

 Leuwenhoeck : in some species, however, the 

 wings are partially, or even entirely, de- 

 nuded of scales ; and in others, small patches 

 only are thus denuded, as in the great Atlas 

 Moth. In many species, these scales exhibit 

 the most brilliant metallic tints, so that in 

 the bright light of the sun it is almost im- 

 possible to look upon them." * * * * " The 

 variations in the colours and markings of 

 the wings are almost as numerous as the 

 species themselves : the sexes also often 

 differ materially from each other ; still some 



feneral principles are evident in the distri- 

 ution of these colours and markings. Thus 

 the Pontice and Pierides are almost uniformly 

 white ; Colias and its allies yellow ; the 

 Fritillaries rich brown, spotted with black 

 and with silvery spots on the under side ; 

 Hipparchia and its allies ornamented with 

 eye- like marks ; the Lycenae copper- co- 

 loured ; the Polyommati fine blue, with 

 small eyes on the under side : the Zyganoe 

 with red under wings ; the Noctuidce with 

 an ear-like mark in the middle of the fore 

 wings ; the Geometridae. with waved carpet- 

 like marks." We are indebted for the pre- 

 vious extracts to Mr. Westwood's excellent 

 " Introduction to the Classification of In- 

 sects." We must refer our readers, who 

 wish to study the subject more particularly, 

 to the works of Dr. Boisduval, Messrs. 

 Doubleday and Hewitson, and others. The 

 recently published Lists of British Species, 

 drawn up with so much study and care by 

 Mr. II. Doubleday of Epping, and by Mr. 

 Stephens (Cat. Lep. in Brit. Mus.) are indis- 

 pensable to all who study the British species ; 

 as British authors, up to his time, have been 

 apt to multiply species, and occasionally to 

 misapply the names, from the want of au- 

 thentic specimens to compare with their 

 species. More particular information will be 

 found under the different species of Lepi- 

 doptera described in the course of the work. 



LEPIDOSIREN. A genus placed by 

 some authors among the Fish, by others 

 among the Amphibia : of late it has been 

 the subject of many learned papers, abroad 

 and at home; the'best known species is named 

 Lepidosiren annectens, and is a native of 

 Africa. 



Dr. Melville differs from Professor Owen 

 with regard to the position of this remarkable 

 genus in the Animal Kingdom, as he regards 

 it as a true Amphibian. He rests its cha- 

 racter on the absence of the super-occipital 

 bone, the presence of the large epi- and basi- 

 cranial bones, the non-development of the 

 maxillary and intermaxillary bones ; and 

 especially the enormous magnitude of the 

 Wernerian bones, which become subservient 

 to mastication, and anchylosed to the ex- 

 panded terygoids ; on the nostril being 

 doubled ; on the existence of external cuta- 

 neous gills during the adult condition, which 

 did not occur in any fish ; and on the co- 

 existence of external and internal gills, with 

 lungs : in other words, on its exhibiting the 

 different modes of circulation, respiration, 

 &c., in the produce second stage of the 

 larva of the frog and Amphiuma, or Meno- 

 poma, and other characters. 



One species (about a foot long) inhabits the 

 upper part of the river Gambia ; and another 

 (between two and three feet in length) is a 

 native of the large rivers of South America. 

 In its respiratory apparatus, it bears the 

 closest correspondence with the Perenni- 

 branchiate Batrachia ; but in many other 

 points of its internal structure, it more re- 

 sembles certain species of fishes. The African 

 species is said to pass nine months out of the 

 twelve in a state of torpidity ; burying it- 

 self in the mud during the dry season, and 

 again reviving when the sources of the river 

 are swollen by the rains. 



LEPIDOSTEUS. A genus of fishes with 

 very bony polished scales, one species of 

 which is found in the United States. Many 

 allied genera are found in a fossil state. 



LEPISMA. A Linnaean genus of Apte- 

 rous insects ; distinguished by an elongated 

 body, covered with small scales, frequently 

 silvery and brilliant. They have six feet, 

 run with great velocity, and some of them 

 by means of their caudal appendage are 



LEPI9MA VITTA.TA. 



enabled to leap. The antennae are setaceous, 

 and usually very long. Several species hide 

 beneath stones 5 others conceal themselves 

 in the cracks of old window-frames and 

 under damp boards, &c. 



