114 THE UNIVERSE. 



are arranged with admirable symmetry, one above the other 

 Hke the tiles on a roof, and as they are of nniform shape 

 and often of very varied colours, the surface of the wing- 

 closely resembles a mosaic of marvellous fineness, not like 

 that of our artists, but like the result of divine art.^ 



Our varied movements are executed by the aid of vol- 

 uminous fleshy muscles attached to the skeleton. In re- 

 spect to these the insect possesses both a numerical and 

 a dynamical superiority over the human race. Anatomists 

 calculate that there are only 370 of these muscles in man, 

 whilst the patient Lyonet discovered more than 4000 in 

 a single caterpillar. 



Insects equally surpass us in respect to strength. A 

 man of average physical powers can only move Avitli diiS- 

 culty a weight of forty-four pounds, placed horizontally. 



1 Laiuartine has described, in exquisite verses, the ephemeral existence of the 

 butterfly, and of the marvellous dust which colours its wings : — 



"Naitre avec le priiitemps, mourir avec le.s roses, 

 Sur I'aile du zephir nager dans un ciel pur, 

 Balance sur le sein des fleurs h peine ecloses, 

 S'enivrer de parfums, de lumiere et d'azur, 

 Secouant, jeuue encor, la poudre de ses ailes, 

 S'envoler conime un scuttle, aux voAtes eternelles, 

 VoiU\ du papillon le destin enchante : 

 II ressemble au dusir qui jamais ne se pose, 

 Et, sans se satisfaire, efHeurant toute chose, 

 Uetourue enfiu au ciel chercber la volupte." 



P>orn with the spring and dying with the rose, 

 To swim on zephyr's wing amid the pure ether. 

 To hover o'er the bosom of scarce-opened flowers, 

 To drink deep of jierfume, of light, and of azure; 

 Wliile still young to shake the dust from its wings, 

 And fly like a breath to the eternal skies. 

 Such is the enchanted life of the butterfly; 

 It is like that desire which never ]'ests, 

 And wldch, still unsatisfied, tastes of everything, 

 And then returns to heaven to seek for delights. 



