Beautiful Butterflies. 65 



Blandina, JEgeria, and Ligea, to what do they refer ? 

 The nearest approach we can make to the first, in the 

 Latin, is Blandusia — the name of a fountain near the 

 country seat of the ancient Roman poet, Horace. Bland, 

 you know, in our language, means soft, smooth ; and 

 this comes from a Latin root having the same sound 

 and signification. 



JEgeria, in the old mythology, was the name of a 

 disconsolate maiden, who took to crying so, that it was 

 thought best to make her a fountain at once ; and so 

 travellers tell of the grotto of -Algeria, near Naples, 

 whose trickling waters do not taste at all like salt 

 tears. 



Ligea was the name of one of the Nereides; and 

 who are they? you may well ask. Oh, they were 

 nymphs of the sea, fifty of them, and all sisters — a 

 nice little family ; they lived in grottoes and caves on 

 the sea-shore, all decked with shells and shining spars, 

 and when they went out for an airing, they rode upon 

 dolphins. They had the power of calming the waters, 

 and so sailors in old times used to pray to them for 

 prosperous voyages. But what has all this to do with 

 Butterflies ? I am sure I do not know ; ask the grave 

 naturalists who gave such pagan out-of-the-way names 

 to our little brown Arguses, and led us away into the 

 regiop of myths and fables. 



