SCIENTIFIC RECREATIONS. 



part is extremely various in form in different insects ; in some it is round and 

 full, in others long and extended. The antennae arise from the head, and 

 are generally composed of eleven pieces variously disposed ; these wonderful 

 organs are possessed of great sensibility, and they certainly serve to convey 

 information to the insect, of the nature of one of the special senses ; it was 

 formerly thought to be simply that of touch 

 very much refined, or of smell, but it is now 

 generally considered to be that of hearing, or 

 a modification of it. The forms of the antennae 



are very various; fig. 845 



represents that of the cock- 

 chafer (Mclolonthavidgaris). 



The legs proceed from the 



thorax as do the wings, the 



abdomen giving rise to none 



of the extremities ; the feet 



of insects are all pretty 



much Upon the Same model, SOme being more Fig. 843. Antenna of cockchafer (melolontha 



developed than others, they have a pair of 



hooks or claws for catching and clinging to rough surfaces, and a pair of 



cushions or pads, covered in some cases with suckers. 



The foot of the common house-fly is most beautifully fitted for its 

 progression and support. We have often wondered how the fly manages to 



Fig. 844. Spiracle. 



Fig. 846 .Foot of fly, magnified. 



Fig. 847. Compound eye. 

 i. Perpendicular section; 2. Surface. 



support itself back downwards on the ceiling, or walk up glass. We give a 

 cut of the fly's foot (fig. 846). 



The eyes of insects are also marvellous. There are only two, but each 

 one is composed of numerous cells (ocelli), and look like a honey-comb. (See 

 illustration, fig. 847.) 



Insects swarm in innumerable companies, and no one who has not seen 

 the locusts descending upon the earth can form more than a faint idea of 

 the devastation they occasion in an incredibly short time. These, as well as 

 thousands of other insects, exist in myriads, and we must content ourselves, 



