208 
THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER 
active at night, and by opening a window and 
giving them access to a light, abundant speci¬ 
mens can be soon gathered. Especially will 
the smaller varieties be seen buzzing around 
the blaze in annoying swarms, scorching their 
wings by repeated contact with the flame, one 
experience not being sufflcient to teach them 
wisdom. This stupidity has pointed a moral 
for those who are disposed to run rashly into 
danger. As many as fifty different species have 
been gathered around a single evening lamp; 
but, to make the experiment more thorough, 
build a small fire in an orchard during some 
mild summer night, and the observer will then 
find abundant specimens of the moths infesting 
the neighborhood. They will be seen coming 
from every direction to meet their doom in the 
flames, into which they fly directly. The silly 
moth is a proverb in the mouths of the higher 
race, whose folly, however, often surpasses that 
of the poor insect, that might aptly retort, 
‘Silly man!’ 
“ A great many varieties of these insects are 
found in the United States, and many of them 
are of rare beauty; but in warmer climates a 
much richer catalogue can be made; and even 
