CHAPTER XVIII 

 The Eyes of Insects 



WE feel compelled to make some reference to 

 the eyes of insects, because they are ex- 

 tremely wonderful. Amplify them however much 

 we may, there is no possibility of any weak point 

 being found in their symmetry. The eye of the 

 water beetle (Dytiscus marginalis) is as surprising as 

 that of any other insect. In fact, the whole structure 

 of this creature is one series of marvels. A lecture 

 dealing with this creature alone would be enough to 

 entertain any audience. 



A very small portion of its eye is shown in fig. 54. 

 It is very difficult to photograph this object properly 

 because of its curved shape. Still if we had not 

 tried to improve the photograph it would have been 

 more perfect. 



Fig. 55 represents a very small portion of the eye 

 of a house-fly. It shows a series of hexagons quite 

 separate from each other. Only high powers can 

 show this effect. A lower power shows all the 

 hexagons uniting to form a network arrangement. 



