INTRODUCTION. XXV 
itself a pile of sweet wood and aromatic gums, and 
firing it with the wafting of its wings, thus destroys 
itself ; while from its ashes arises a worm, which in 
time grows up to be again a phoenix. 
In the Annals of Tacitus,* it is stated, that, in 
the year 787 of Rome, the pheenix revisited Egypt, 
which created much speculation among the learned. 
The accounts of the longevity of this creature vary 
from five hundred to one thousand five hundred 
years. It was considered sacred to the sun. 
The ancients made many allusions to the wonder- 
ful changes which the insect tribes undergo, and 
built a number of their fictions onthem. The my- 
thological tale of Cupid and Psyche, is an allegory 
of the human soul, which is sometimes cherished, 
and sometimes tormented by the passions. Psyche, 
in Greek uyu, signifies the soul, as also a butterfly; 
showing that the ancients were sufficiently struck 
with the transformation of the butterfly, and its 
revival from a seeming temporary death. Cupid is 
an emblem of desire. Psyche is frequently repre- 
sented by a butterfly, not merely from the beautiful 
appearance of that insect, but on account of its sur- 
* Book vi. sect, 28, 
