66 Objects for the Microscope. 



those two brushes on either side ever keeping it clean and 

 unclogged for its work ; whilst those four feelers, the labial 

 palpi and maxillary palpi, ceaselessly vibrate over all, to 

 ascertain the fitness of food or material. 



There are many species of Wasps ; and some of them, 

 especially foreign ones, feed more upon honey than do our 

 common Wasps, and their lingulee are therefore modified 

 for their wants, being longer and sometimes three-lobed, 

 with a variation also on the mandibles or outer jaws. 



These would make a very interesting collection prepared 

 like the Bee's head. 



BUTTERFLY'S TONGUE OR PROBOSCIS. 



This is a beautiful piece of mechanism ; a long elastic 

 coil which the hovering Butterfly throws lightly into the 

 recesses of the deepest corolla. It cannot, like the Bee, 

 dive down into the Honeysuckle or Campanula, or passion- 

 ately tear open the nectary of a Foxglove. Its beautiful 

 wings cannot fold so closely as to let it creep into the 

 Salvia-cup or Lily-bell. Therefore its Creator gave it this 

 excellent instrument adapted exactly to its wants. In the 

 living insect it is coiled closely to its head, so as to be 

 scarcely visible, and not at all to impede its movements. 

 When unfolded, we perceive that it consists of two long 

 tubes hooked together most curiously by minute teeth, 

 which on either side are inserted into little pits between 

 each row of teeth. Moreover each of these tiny teeth has 

 a second tooth, which forms a deep notch, and prevents the 

 accidental unhooking of this double tube. Then at the 

 edge of each tube there are seventy-four little barrel- 

 shaped bodies, or papillae, considered to be the organs of 

 taste, and inside each tube, which you may observe is 

 delicately striated, there are spiral vessels or tracheae con- 

 nected with the larger tracheae in the head. Now the 

 fluid does not pass up the interior of this antlia, which 

 is its proper name, but is drawn upwards along that 

 channel which is formed by the union of the two tubes. 

 The papillae are best observed near the tip, and with a high 

 power. 



