THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 89 



is the prodigious variety of coloring. Their mantles gleam 

 with the richest hues in nature. Their splendor can only 

 be compared to that of jewels and metals. The purest 

 gold and silver, the sapphire and the emerald, gleam on 

 their wings and corsages ; their tints mingle together, melt 

 abruptly, or imperceptibly shade into each other. 



Some groups are more particularly remarkable for the 

 richness of their vestments, as, for instance, the Buprestidse, 

 which owe their French surname of " Richards" (million- 

 aires) to their metallic lustre; such are also the Curculios, 

 which gleam like precious stones, and which, like the pre- 

 ceding, are used instead of them in India and China, where 

 they are made into trinkets for women, such as pins and 

 ear-drops. 



36. Buprestis imperialis. ' 37. Cetonia cervus. 



Among the brilliant genera we find also the Cetoniae, of 

 which the wing-cases are often variegated with the most 

 beautiful velvety tints ; and lastly, the Carabi and the Calo- 

 somse, all glittering with gold. 



As the great Linnaeus said, Nature takes no leaps (Natura 

 nonfacit salfam), and among insects she proceeds, as else- 

 where, by insensible transitions. 



We are accustomed to recognize a butterfly only by its 



