8 Beautiful Butterflies. 



hension of all than those which this chapter offers to 

 the understanding." 



11 In an insect or a flower, 

 Such microscopic proofs of skill and power 

 As hid from ages past God now displays " 



says the poet Southey, in allusion to the wonders 

 revealed by the microscope in the natural world, and 

 especially in that branch of it with which Entomology 

 has to do. 



But it is to one particular division of the insect tribes 

 that I have now to direct the attention of my readers. 



LEPIDOPTERA 



is the name given to that order of insects in which 

 " Beautiful Butterflies " are included. Here is another 

 long word not to be found in Johnson's dictionary — 

 Lep-i-dop-te-ra, five syllables, derived from two Greek 

 words — lepis, a scale ; and pteron, a wing. Butterflies 

 and Moths, then, are Lepidopterous or scaly-winged 

 insects ; if you observe one of them closely, you will 

 find that the wings are covered with a fine downy sub- 

 stance like meal. Examined under a microscope this 

 will be found to consist of minute scales of uniform 

 size and shape, that is, upon one species of fly, for they 



