LEPIDOPTEROUS INSECTS. 85 



Rousseau be correct, that without the sense of 

 smelling", we could have no taste, then it appears 

 pretty evident that there must be spiracles in the 

 mouths of insects, by which smell is conveyed to the 

 sensorium. 



Rousseau made some experiments on the human 

 species, by which, we think, he was fully warranted 

 in adopting his theory. He successively blindfolded 

 some young medical students, who were sceptical 

 regarding his opinion, and after effectually stopping 1 

 their nostrils, gave them onions to eat, which they 

 took for apples, and they supposed camphor to be 

 bread. 



OF HEARING. 



Naturalists are much divided in opinion regarding 

 the organs of hearing in insects, and many maintain 

 that they are insensible to sounds. The antennae, by 

 some, are supposed to correspond to the ears of other 

 animals, but as yet no satisfactory proofs have been 

 discovered to warrant this conclusion. 



It is well known that insects emit various sounds ; 

 but whether these are heard by their congeners, is 

 still matter of dispute. We can, however, conceive, 

 that if these sounds are not heard, in the strict sense 

 of the word, yet it is quite possible that they may be 

 perceived by the impulses they produce on the 

 atmosphere through the medium of the antennae, or 

 other organs, which may possess an exquisite sensi- 

 bility in this respect. 



