CHAPTER XI 



SIMPLE WONDERS OF THE MICROSCOPE 



PERHAPS some readers may possess microscopes 

 and like to examine some of the marvels of 

 minute nature, yet think perhaps that plant and 

 insect dissection would be beyond their capabilities. 

 But there is no need for despair : Fig. 164 gives a 

 photograph of a speck or so of the dust often left, 

 as most readers will have noticed, on the fingers 

 after killing or handling a moth, simply laid on 

 a glass slide and put under the microscope. The 

 particular moth from which the scales were re- 

 moved for the p rpose of this illustration is the 

 common Gold-tailed Moth frequent in our gardens 

 during summer. 



These scales of moths and butterflies are spread 

 on each side of the colourless membrane of the 

 wings, giving them their gorgeous colours ; they 

 overlap like the scales of a fish and make beautiful 

 objects for the novice to examine in situ, or other- 

 wise. In Fig. 165 an example of markings on a 

 butterfly's wing is given the photograph being 



