154 YELLOW BRIMSTONE BUTTERFLY. 



over and over he comes, and up again ; catch'd it 

 again : or whether his fall enraged him, or how 'twas, 

 he did so set his teeth, and tear it. O ! I warrant how 

 he mammock'd it." — (Act I. Sc.III.) 



The determination and absence of all fear wliich 

 boys evince in the pursuit, has supphed a forcible 

 simile at the time when Marcius, joined with the 

 Volscians, is approaching Rome with the irresistible 

 fury of a conqueror : — 



" He is their God : he leads them like a thing 

 Made by some other deity than Nature, 

 That shapes man better ; and they follow him 

 Against us brats, with no less confidence 

 Than boys pursuing summer butterflies. 

 Or butchers killing flies."— Act IV. Sc. VI. 



The same species of butterfly may be more easily 

 taken at one season of the year than at another. 

 Thus, the yellow brimstone butterfly {Gonepterix 

 Rhamni), I have been told, is in spring vigorous in 

 all its movements, and requires active exertion before 

 it can be secured. In the autumn, it is so sluggish, 

 that I have, on more than one occasion, lifted it 

 between my finger and thumb. This insect has 

 never been taken in the neighbourhood of Belfast. 

 The late J.Templeton, Esq., was of opinion, that on 

 one occasion he had seen it, but at such a distance, 

 as to render him uncertain of the fact. On the 4th 

 of July, 1829, I watched one for some time on 



