43 Beautiful Butterflies. 



between different genera. In the Moths the antenna 

 are often beautifully feathered and fringed, but we do 

 not find this the case with the Butterflies. 



I have now only to speak of the eyes, which are of 

 two kinds, the stemmetic or simple eyes, which are 

 usually two in number, and placed on the crown of the 

 head, where, if seen at all, which is not the case in all 

 species, they appear as little clear spots, nearly covered 

 with hairs and scales. Their use as organs is some- 

 what questionable, but they may be of service in some 

 way, as yet undiscovered by the investigation of scien- 

 tific men. The ordinary or compound eyes, as they are 

 called, are plain enough ; they occupy a great part of 

 the head on each side, and project from it like a half 

 globe ; unlike the human eye, which can move in various 

 directions, they are fixed, but to compensate for this 

 they are composed of an immense number of little 

 lenses, each of which is capable of reflecting a perfect 

 image, so that on whatever side you approach a Butter- 

 fly (and it is the same with most other insects), it can 

 see you without moving its head or rolling its eye-ball 

 in the socket, as you or I would be obliged to do, to be 

 aware of any danger approaching from a direction other 

 than the front. Naturalists tell us that they have 

 counted as many as seventeen thousand three hundred 

 and twenty-five lenses in a singe eye ; double that for 

 the pair, and it gives thirty-four thousand six hundred 



