Beautiful Butterflies. 77 



scopic eyes, that is, that they carry microscopes in their 

 heads as well as in their pockets ; they can detect such 

 minute points of difference, and so quickly too. They 

 can see things that nobody else can see, and they tell 

 such wonderful stories about the creatures that inhabit 

 drops of water, and grains of sand, that one is at times 

 inclined to think they have only been dreaming, and 

 ought to begin their almost unbelievable stories with 

 the line of the poet Coleridge — 



" In a vision once I saw/' 



But then they tell us how we may convince ourselves of 

 the truth of their statements, and bid us look through 

 their glasses at some of the monsters of the invisible 

 world, which are frightful enough in pictures ; but all 

 alive and kicking are, oh dear! enough to make a 

 nervous person go clean out of his senses — " off his 

 head," as they say in some parts of England. 



One of these days I mean to write a little book for 

 your instruction, all about the animalcules, and the uses 

 of the microscope, and then we will get our engraver to 

 serve you up such a dish, or rather a number of plates, 

 of odd-shaped creatures, which inhabit the world out of 

 sight, that if you won't be startled and surprised, that's 

 a pity ! 



But what is our Vanessa Polychloros doing all this 

 time? enjoying himself in the sunshine no doubt, 



