RETICULATED EYES. 209 
magnified, in order that you may dis- 
tinctly see the arrangement of the lenses. 
Lucy, I see in deed , that every lens 
has six little sides, and that there is no 
space lost hetvveen them. 
Mother, Here is another drawing — 
part of a lobster's eye, which is also mag- 
nified : in this you may perceive that 
every lens is square. 
Lucy, I was astonished when you 
mentioned the six lenses of the formica 
leo, but there is such a number in this 
drawing of the dragon fly's eye, that I 
can scarcely reckon them. 
Mother. You may spare yourself the 
trouble, for it represents but a very small 
portion of the whole surface ; it is even 
said, that each eye of the libellula gran- 
dis, or large dragon fly, contains twelve 
thousand separate lenses. 
Lucy, Oh dear, mamma, one can 
hardly imagine that such an amazing 
number could be contained in so small a 
space. Has any other insect so great a 
multitude of lenses ? 
