792 



A HISTORY OF 



figures : on one part of the wing may be seen 

 a succession of ovi! studs; on another part, 

 a cluster of studs, each in tiie form of a heart: 

 in one place they resemble a hand open; 

 and in another they arc long or triangular; 

 while all are interspersed with taller studs, 

 that grow between the rest, like mushrooms 

 upon a stalk. The wing itself is composed 

 of several thick nerves, which render the 

 construction very strong, though light; and 

 though it be covered over with thousands of 

 these scales or studs, yet its weight is very 

 little increased by the number. The animal 

 is with ease enabled to support itself a long 

 while in air, although its flight be not very 

 graceful. When it designs to fly to a con- 

 siderable distance, it ascends and descends 

 alternately ; going sometimes to the right, 

 sometimes to the left, without any apparent 

 reason. Upon closer examination, however, 

 it will be found that it flies thus irregularly 

 in pursuit of its mate; and as dogs bait and 

 quarter the ground in pursuit of their game, 

 so these insects traverse the air in quest of' 

 their mates, whom they can discover at more 

 than a mile's distance. 



If we prosecute our description of the but- 

 terfly, the animal may be divided into three 

 parts; the head, the corselet, and the body. 



The body is the hinder part of the butter- 

 fly, and is composed of rings, which are gene- 

 rally concealed under long hair, with which 

 that part of the animal is clothed. The 

 corselet is more solid than the rest of the 

 body, because the fore-wings and the legs are 

 fixed therein. The legs are six in number, 

 although four only are made use of by the 

 animal ; the two fore-legs being often so 

 much concealed in the long hair of the body, 

 that it is sometimes difficult to discover them. 

 If we examine these parts internally, we shall 

 find the same set of vessels in the butterfly 

 that we observed in the caterpillar; but with 

 this great difference, that as the blood or 

 humours in the caterpillar circulated from the 

 tail to the head, they are found in the butter- 

 fly to take a direct contrary course, and to 

 circulate from the head to the tail; so that 

 the caterpillar may be considered as the em- 

 bryo animal, in which, as we have formerly 

 sen, the circulation is carried on differently 

 from what it is in animals when excluded. 



But leaving the other parts of the butterfly, 

 let us turn our iilietuion pai ticulariy lo llic 

 head. The eyes ol hulterllirs have not all 

 the same form; for in smiie they are large, 

 in others small ; in some they are the larger 

 portion of a sphere, in others they are but a 

 small part of it, and just appearing from the 

 head. In all of them, however, the out ward 

 coat has a lustre, in which may be discover- 

 ed the various colours of the rainbow. When 

 examined a little closely, it will be found to 

 have the appearance of a tiiultiplying-glass; 

 having a great number of sides or facets, in 

 the manner of a brilliant cut diamond. In 

 this particular, the eye of the butterfly, and 

 of most other insects, entirely correspond ; 

 and Leuwenhoek pretends there are about 

 six thousand facets on the cornea of the flea. 

 These animals, therefore, see not only with 

 great clearness, but view every object multi- 

 plied in a surprising mariner. Puget adapted 

 the cornea of a fly in such a position, as to 

 see objects through it by the means of a mi- 

 croscope; and nothing could exceed the 

 strangeness of its representations. A soldier, 

 who was seen through it, appeared like an 

 army of pigmies; for while it multiplied, it 

 also diminished the object; the arch -of a 

 bridge exhibited a spectacle more magnificent 

 than human skill could perform; the flame of 

 a candle seemed a beautiful illumination. It 

 still, however, remains a doubt, whether the 

 insect sees objects singly, as with one eyelf 

 or whether every facet is itself a cornpljfi 

 eye, exhibiting its own object distinct from 

 all the rest. 



Butterflies, as well as most other flying in- 

 sects, have two instruments, like horns, on 

 their heads, which are commonly called 

 feelers. They differ from the horns of greater 

 animals, in being moveable 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 butterflies 

 are placed at the top of the head, pretty 

 near the external edge of 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 



