SEPTEMBER. 239 



workers at a time, thus securing themselves by an admirable 

 sagacity against an enemy they could not resist. "The art 

 of war amongst Bees/' he says, " is therefore not restricted 

 to attacking their enemies ; they know also how to construct 

 ramparts as shelter for their enterprises ; from the part of 

 simple soldiers, they pass to engineers," another interesting 

 proof of the instinct so abundantly possessed by these little 

 creatures. Compare this rational fear and wise precaution 

 with the feelings excited by the appearance of this Moth in 

 Poland : the account is taken from the ' Journal of a Na- 

 turalist/ "The insect is called the ' Death's-head phan- 

 tom/ the ' Wandering Death-bird/ etc. ; the markings on 

 its back represent to these fertile imaginations the head of 

 a perfect skeleton, with limb-bones crossed beneath : its 

 cry becomes the voice of anguish, the moaning of a child, 

 the signal of grief; it is regarded not as the creation of a 

 benevolent Being, but the device of evil spirits (spirits 

 enemies to man), and fabricated in the dark; the very 

 shining of its eyes is thought to represent the fiery element 

 whence it is supposed to have proceeded. Flying into their 

 rooms in the evening, it at times extinguishes the light, 

 foretelling war, pestilence, hunger, and death, to man and 

 beast." In spite of this alarming account, the best wish 



