194 



THE HARMONIES OF NATURE. 



but a moment before, arrived in clouds and blackened the 

 body by their multitude : scarcely an instant was allowed to 

 elapse for the commencement of decomposition, no odour of 

 putrefaction could be discerned ; yet some peculiar smell of 

 mortality, instantly spreading to a distance, must have struck 

 the sharp scent of the insects and summoned them to the feast. 



The sense of smelling is no less 

 acute in the ants. When in a 

 tropical climate where, as is 

 well known, these active little 

 creatures chiefly abound a small 

 piece of sugar covered with pa- 

 per is placed in the centre of 

 a table, not many minutes will 

 elapse before a troop of ants is 

 seen to approach, and to form 

 a long line in order to convey 

 the booty in safety to the floor of 

 the room. The sense of smell- 

 ing can have been their only 

 guide to a substance which to our 

 grosser olfactory nerves seems 

 but faintly scented even at a 

 short distance. While nothing 

 positive is known about the or- 

 gans which are the seat of this 

 remarkable faculty, the eyes of 



A. Section of eye of Cockchafer. insects Strike US at OnCe by 



B. Section of eye of Dragonfly. . . 



c. section of the same still more magm- their large size and brilliancy. 



c facets, 6 external convex surfaces, d base, They do not tlim in their 

 a anterior chamber between facet and -iris, i , 1-1 nnvo >,,,+ +V>i'o 



e pupillary aperture, / cones filled with SOCKCtS IIKC GUIS, DUt tniS 



want of motion is amply com- 

 pensated for by their amazing number; for the microscope 

 teaches us that they are not simple like ours, but composed of 

 a multitude of distinct organs of vision, divided from each other 

 by interstices covered with a dark pigment, and converging to the 

 centre of the eye, each possessing its separate cornea, and each 

 provided with a separate filament of the optic nerve. Exter- 

 nally they form a network of transparent facets, generally of 

 an hexagonal shape, which by the refraction of the light produce 



