Volume 1 — LETTER XXXIV. (continued 2)

8. Pharynx[1337].—On the upper side of the tongue, usually at its base or root, is the pharynx, or aperture by which the food passes from the mouth to the œsophagus. This orifice, which is situated with respect to the tongue of the Orthoptera and Libellulina nearly as in those insects (at least as far as I have been able to examine them), whose tongue is called a ligula or labium,—of course exists in all the mandibulate Orders whose mouth we are now considering. In the Hymenoptera it is covered by a valve, the Epipharynx of Savigny; and it appeared to me to be so likewise in one of the Harpalidæ that I examined. The formation seems different in Geotrupes, as far as I can get an idea of it; but it is so difficult to examine the interior of the mouth without laceration of some of the parts, that I can only tell you what the appearances were in one instance, upon removing the labrum from the mandibles; and in another, separating the whole apparatus of the labium, including the maxillæ, from the mandibles and labrum. In the former case, the mandibles coincided at the base, the two molary plates (molæ), which in this genus are narrow, transverse and not furrowed, are so applied as evidently to have an action upon each other, as the mandible opens and shuts, proper for trituration. Within these is the base of the tongue, under the form of a ventricose sack. The upper part of this last organ, which forms the internal covering of the labium, appears to consist of three (in the recent insect fleshy) lobes, the middle one being bent downwards internally, so as to form a kind of sloping cover to an orifice in the part I call the base. After two or three days, the tongue shrinks and dries to a hard substance;—between the mandibles and the base of the tongue I could not discover the pharynx. The above apparent opening covered by the tongue was the only one I could perceive. In the latter case, the form and structure of the base of the tongue is more visible: it is an oblong ventricose tubular sack, projecting above anteriorly into an acute angle formed by a fine white membrane, most beautifully and delicately striated with oblique striæ, to be seen only under a powerful lens: on the anterior side of this sack are two parallel cartilaginous ridges close to each other, fringed with short hairs, which take their origin from the angle. I could not be certain whether the orifice covered by the intermediate lobe was only apparent, or real; but I did not succeed in my endeavour to find any other pharynx, though from the molary structure of the base of the mandibles one may conjecture that there must be one situated at the base of this sack to receive the food they render after trituration. The excrement of this animal is not fluid. In the Libellulina the pharynx seems closed by two valves meeting. This part in Hymenoptera, and probably in other Orders, has the aspect of being cartilaginous and fitted to sustain the action of the substances that have to pass through it[1338].

The Epipharynx is a valve, called by M. Latreille sublabrum (sous labre[1339]), attached by its base to the upper margin of the pharynx, or that next the labrum. In the bees it is said by Reaumur to be of a fleshy substance, and capable of changing its figure. He seems to think it the real tongue of the bee[1340]; but as it does not appear to have any of the uses of a tongue, and merely closes the orifice of the mouth, it surely does not merit that name. M. Savigny calls it a membranous appendage which exactly closes the pharynx[1341]. De Geer has examined the epipharynx of the wasp, which he describes as of a scaly substance, and regards merely as the cover of the part just named[1342].

With regard to the Hypopharynx, which Latreille considers as a support and appendage of the epipharynx, I have little to add to the definition I have given of it above. In the Libellulina the base of the tongue terminates towards the pharynx in a fleshy cushion, armed at each angle next to that part with a short hard horn or tooth of a black colour. This cushion, I suppose, may be analogous to the hypopharynx of M. Savigny[1343]. On the opposite side the pharynx is closed by another fleshy cushion (epipharynx?), which appears to line the nose, behind those two mammillæ before described[1344], which form the internal covering of the rhinarium.

Before I call your attention to what I would denominate an imperfect mouth, in which some one or more of the seven organs above enumerated exist under another form, or only as rudiments,—I must say something upon the mouth of the Myriapods and Arachnida, in which there seem to be redundant organs of manducation.—M. Latreille, in the Essay lately quoted, in which, though some of his notions seem fanciful, he has shown a vast depth and range of thought and research, has asserted,—from the admirable and curious observations of M. Savigny, and those which since their publication he has made himself,—that the masticating organs of annulose animals (called by him condylopes) are a kind of legs[1345]. And M. Savigny, whose indefatigable labours and unparalleled acuteness have opened the door to a new and vast field in what may be denominated analogical anatomy,—has observed, that with certain Apiropods[1346] the organs that serve for manducation do not differ essentially from those which, with the other Apiropods and the Hexapods, serve for locomotion[1347]: and the unguiform mandibles of the larvæ of certain Diptera, you have before been told, are used not only in manducation, but also as legs[1348]. These remarks will satisfactorily prove to you, that organs which at first sight possess no visible affinity or analogy—as for instance, jaws and legs—may, if traced through a long series of beings, exhibit a very great one;—and will lessen your surprise when you find, that in certain tribes such commutations of organs and their use take place.

The following is the structure, as to its organs, of the mouth of the myriapods, as exhibited by the centipedes (Scolopendridæ). The part which appears to perform the office of the upper lip (but which M. Savigny regards as the nose, calling it the chaperon,) is a transverse piece with a deep anterior sinus, in the centre of which is a minute tooth[1349]. This piece is separated from the forepart of the head by a suture; but it probably is not moveable: however, it covers the mouth, and may be regarded rather as analogous to the labrum. Below this are two mandibles, armed at their end with five sharp triangular teeth[1350], under which are the maxillæ, terminating in a moveable concavo-convex lobe, resembling the valve of a bivalve shell[1351]; and between them is the labium, of a rhomboidal shape, divisible into two lobes, attached laterally to the maxillæ: these lobes M. Savigny terms the second maxillæ, forming with the others, according to him, the labium[1352]. Affixed to the base of this labium, or covering it on the outside, are a pair of pediform palpi, which he considers as the first auxiliary labium, and representative of the first pair of legs of hexapods and Iuli[1353]. I imagine them to be also the analogues, in some degree, of the labial palpi of a perfect mouth. The last of the organs in question is a large rhomboidal plate affixed to the first apparent segment of the trunk, crowned at its vertex with two truncated denticulated teeth, and from the upper sides of which emerge a pair of moveable organs terminating in a powerful incurved claw, and which entirely covers all the other parts of the mouth[1354]. This, M. Savigny deems as a second auxiliary labium, and the lateral organs of prehension,—which may be regarded each as a kind of maxillary hand, and as the only representatives in this tribe of the maxillary palpi, though widely different,—he looks upon as really analogous to the second pair of legs in Iulus and the hexapods[1355]. These two pairs of pedipalpes (to use an expressive French term) show their relation to legs by their general structure, and their analogy with palpi by their use as oral organs, though belonging to the trunk: so that here we see the legs and their appendages assume a material function in manducation, forming a singular contrast to what we had observed before with regard to mandibles becoming instruments of locomotion. The mouth of the Iulidæ, with little variation, is upon the same plan[1356] with those here described.

The next type of form with regard to the oral organs is that of the Arachnida. In these, as you know, the head is confounded with the trunk; so that they are a kind of Blemmyes in the insect world. Their organs of manducation, amongst which there is no labrum or upper lip, are, in the first place, a pair of mandibles planted close and parallel to each other in the anterior part of the head, which they terminate. In the spiders they consist of two tubular joints, of which the first is much the largest, more or less conical or cylindrical, and armed underneath with a double row of stout teeth; and the terminal one is more solid and harder, in the form of a very sharp crooked claw, which in inaction is folded on the first joint between the teeth. Under its extremity on the outside is a minute orifice, destined to transmit a venomous fluid, which is conducted there by an internal canal from the base of the first joint, where is the poison-bag[1357]. In the scorpion and harvest-man (Phalangium) the mandible consists of two joints terminated by a chela or double claw, the exterior one being moveable[1358].—M. Latreille, as has been before observed, regards these not as representatives of the mandibles of hexapods, but as replacing the interior pair of antennæ, in the situation of which they are precisely placed, of the Crustacea[1359]: and M. Savigny is of opinion that the Arachnida may in some sort be defined as Crustacea without a head, and with twelve legs, of which the two first pair are converted into mandibles and maxillæ[1360]. From the situation of the organs in question, the first of these opinions seems preferable; but the conversion of the legs in other cases, at least the coxæ, into organs of manducation, gives some weight to the last. With regard to their use, it is said to be to retain the insect which the animal has seized, and to facilitate the compression which the maxillæ exercise upon it for the extraction of the nutritive matter[1361]. If this be correct, in this respect the mandibles may be said to represent the maxillæ of the mandibulate hexapods; and, vice versa, the sciatic maxillæ, as they have been denominated[1362], of the Arachnida, their mandibles. The palpi are pediform, and the first joint of the coxa, or hip, acts the part of a maxilla:—this is composed of a single piece or plate, more or less oval or triangular, sometimes straight and sometimes inclined to the labium, with the interior extremity very hairy. The labium consists also of a single piece, and is only an appendage of the anterior extremity of the breast. The interior of the mouth, or palate, presents a fleshy, hairy, linguiform piece, which is usually applied to the internal face of the labium. An opening is supposed to exist in its sides, for the transmission of the alimentary juices[1363]. If you examine the under side of the body of a scorpion, you will find that not only the palpi, but the two anterior pair of legs, by means of their coxæ, are concerned in manducation: so that these insects have in fact three pairs of maxillæ—a circumstance that M. Savigny has observed to take place also in the harvest-men (Phalangium L.)[1364]. The palpi of the scorpion, which may be called its hands, like the anterior legs of the lobster and crab, terminate in a tremendous chela or forceps, consisting of a large triangular joint, armed at the end with a double claw internally toothed; the exterior one of which, contrary to what takes place in the animals just named, is moveable, and not the interior[1365].

Having given you this full account of the trophi of those animals that have all the organs of manducation developed, I must next advert to those in which one part receives an increment at the expense of others, and the whole oral machine is fitted for suction; or where some parts appear to be deficient, so that this may be called an imperfect mouth. At first sight one would regard the trophi of a bee as of this description; but this is not the case, since it has all the ordinary organs, though the tongue is unusually long, and looks as if it was made for suction; which, however, as you have been informed, is not the case.

There are five kinds of imperfect mouth to be met with in insects that take their food by suction, each of which I shall distinguish by a separate denomination. The first is that of the Hemiptera Order:—this I term the Promuscis; the second is that of the Diptera, which with Linné I call Proboscis; the third, peculiar to the Lepidoptera, is with me an Antlia; the fourth, which I name Rostrulum, is confined to the Aphaniptera order, or genus Pulex L.; and the last is Rostellum, which I employ to denote the suctory organs of the louse tribe (Pediculidæ).

i. Promuscis[1366].—The organ we are first to consider has usually been denominated Rostrum: but since that term is likewise in general use for the snout of insects of the weevil tribes (Curculio L.), I think you will concur with me in adopting the one here proposed, for the very different oral instruments of the Hemiptera. Illiger has employed promuscis to denote those of bees[1367]: but since, as I have just observed, they consist of all the ordinary organs, they seem to require no separate denomination: the term, therefore, may be applied to represent a different set of trophi, without any risk of producing confusion. This part consists of five pieces: viz. a minute, long, conical piece, commonly very slender, which covers the base of the promuscis, and represents the labrum[1368]; a jointed sheath (vagina), consisting of either three or four joints, the analogue of the labium, and four slender rigid lancets (scalpella), the two exterior ones, according to M. Savigny, representing the mandibles, and the intermediate pair the maxillæ[1369]. By the union of these four pieces a suctorious tube is formed, which the animal inserts into the substance, whether animal or vegetable, the juices of which form its nutriment. These pieces are dilated at their base, and serrated at their apex; and the two central ones, though at their origin they are asunder, form one tube, which has often been mistaken for a single piece. A pharynx and tongue have been discovered by M. Savigny in this apparatus; who thinks that in Nepa there are also rudiments, but very indistinct, of labial palpi: so that the maxillary palpi seem to be the only part absolutely wanting[1370].

The Promuscis when at rest is usually laid between the legs; but when employed, in most cases its direction is outward. In the genus Chermes L. (Psylla Latr.) the origin of the promuscis has been supposed to be in the breast; but if closely examined, this anomaly in nature will be found not to exist. If you take one of these insects, the first thing that strikes you upon inspecting the head, is a pair of remarkable conical processes into which the front appears to be divided. Look below these, and you will there discover the upper-lip: and from this you may follow the promuscis till it gets beyond the forelegs, when it takes a direction perpendicular to the body[1371]; a circumstance which has given rise to the above false notion. Though in Coccus, Chermes, &c. this instrument is short, in some Aphides it is longer in proportion than in any other insect. In A. Quercus it is three times the length of the body; so that when folded, it stretches out beyond it, and looks like a long tail[1372]; and in A. Abietis it even exceeds that length[1373].

ii. Proboscis[1374].—Linné long since, and after him Fabricius, has employed this term to designate the oral instruments, or rather their sheath, in the Muscidæ and some others, calling the same organ, when without fleshy lips, rostrum and haustellum: but as the parts of the mouth in all true Diptera (for Hippobosca and its affinities can scarcely be deemed as co-ordinate with the rest), are analogous to each other; although in some they are stiff and rigid, in others flexile and soft, and in Œstrus (except the palpi) mere rudiments,—the same appellation ought to designate them all. I am happy to find that M. Latreille agrees with me in this opinion; and to his sensible observations on this head, if you wish for further information, I refer you[1375]. The mouth of Dipterous insects appears to vary in the number of pieces that it presents; but in all, the theca or sheath is present, which represents the labium (including the mentum) of the mandibulate Orders[1376]. It consists of three joints, the last of which is formed by the liplets (Labella). Those in the Muscidæ are large, turgid, vesiculose, and capable of dilatation; in the Bombylidæ and other tribes they are small, slender, long and leathery, and sometimes recurved. The second joint or stalk, which may be said to represent the mentum, the liplets being properly in a restricted sense the analogue of the labium, its sides being turned up, forms a longitudinal cavity, which contains the haustellum. The upper piece of this, the valvula, is long, rigid, and very sharp, representing the labrum[1377]. Beneath this cover, in the above cavity, are the lancets; which, as far as they are at present known, vary in number and form: sometimes there are five of them, sometimes four, sometimes two, and sometimes, it should seem, only one[1378]. In the gnat (Culex) they are finer than a hair, very sharp, and barbed occasionally on one side[1379]; in the horse-fly (Tabanus L.) they are flat and sharp like the blade of a knife or lancet[1380]. In this tribe the upper pair, or the knives (Cultelli), represent the mandibles; the lower pair, or the lancets (Scalpella), usually palpigerous, the maxillæ; and the central one the tongue. In the horse-fly Reaumur has figured only four, exclusive of the labrum and labium; but in a specimen I have preserved there appear to be five, one of which, as slender as a hair, I regard as the analogue of the tongue[1381].—When the lancets are reduced to two, they probably represent the maxillæ, the mandibles being absorbed in the labrum; and where there is only one, the maxillæ also are absorbed by the labium, which then bears the palpi, the lancet representing the tongue[1382]. The lancets are so constructed in many cases, as to be able by their union to form a tube proper for suction, or rather for forcing the fluid by the pressure of the lower parts to the pharynx[1383]. Labial palpi appear not usually present in the proboscis; but M. Savigny thinks he has discovered vestiges of them in Tabanus[1384]. In this genus the maxillary ones are large, and consist of two joints[1385]. The proboscis is often so folded, as to form two elbows; the base forming an angle with the stalk, and the latter with the lips, so as in shape to represent the letter Z, only that the upper angle points to the breast, and the lower one to the mouth: this is the case with the flesh-fly and many others. In other flies, as Conops and Stomoxys, whose punctures on our legs so torment us[1386], there is only a single fold, with its angle to the breast. The proboscis is received in a large oblong cavity of the underside of the anterior part of the head.

It may here be observed, that in the promuscis the elongation of the organs seems to be made chiefly at the expense of all the palpi, but in the proboscis at that of the labial only; and in some cases at that also of the mandibles or maxillæ;—the former merging in the labrum and the latter in the labium.

iii. Antlia[1387].—The third kind of imperfect mouth is that of the Lepidoptera, which I have called Antlia. Fabricius denominates it lingua: but as this organ has no analogy with the real tongue of insects, this is confessedly improper, and it appeared necessary therefore to exchange it for another denomination: I have endeavoured to apply a term to it that indicates its use—to pump up, namely, the nectar of the flowers into the mouth of the insect. On a former occasion I described to you the structure of this instrument[1388]; but further discoveries with regard to it having since been made by MM. Savigny and Latreille, I shall here give you the result of their observations. The former of these able physiologists has detected in the mouth of the Lepidoptera rudiments of almost all the parts of a perfect mouth. Of the correctness of this assertion you may satisfy yourself, if you consult his admirable elucidatory plates, and compare them with the insects. Just above the origin of the spiral tongue or pump, the head is a little prominent and rounded; and immediately below the middle of this prominence there is a very minute, membranous, triangular or semicircular piece; which from its position, as covering the base of the antlia, may be regarded as the rudiment of the upper-lip (labrum)[1389]. On each side of the outer base of the antlia is another small immoveable piece, resembling a flattened tubercle, the end of which is internally hairy or scaly: these pieces appear to represent the mandibles[1390]. Near the base of each half of the antlia, just below a sinus, may be distinctly seen the minute, usually biarticulate rudiment of a maxillary palpus[1391]; demonstrating to a certainty that these spiral organs, at least their lateral tubes or Solenaria, are real maxillæ[1392]. The rudiment of the under-lip (Labium) is the almost horny triangular piece united by membrane to the two stalks of the maxillæ, and supporting at its base the recurved labial palpi; which are so well known that I need not enlarge upon them[1393]. Amongst these parts there seems at first sight no representative of the tongue; but M. Latreille has advanced some very ingenious, and I think satisfactory arguments[1394], which go to prove that this part, at least the tongue of Hymenoptera, has its analogue in the intermediate tube or Fistula formed by the union of the two maxillæ, and which conveys the fluid aliment of this Order to the pharynx. As in Diptera the maxillæ sometimes merge in the labium, so here the tongue (as it were divided longitudinally) merges in the maxillæ. He further observes, that in a transverse section of the maxilla of the death's-head hawk-moth (Sphinx Atropos), the lateral tube appeared to be divided into two by a membranous partition, and to contain in the upper cavity a small cylindrical tube, which seemed to be a trachea[1395]. To animals that are without lungs, and breathe by tracheæ, suction must be performed in a very different way from what it is by those that breathe by the mouth: and as in the very extended organs in question the fluid has a long space to pass before it reaches the pharynx, in some way or other these lateral tubes may have the power of producing a vacuum in the middle tube, and so facilitate its passage thither. We see, in the antlia, that the maxillæ receive their vast elongation at the expense of all the other organs, except the labial palpi.

iv. Rostrulum[1396].—An animal very annoying to us affords the type of the next kind of imperfect mouth—I mean the flea. Its oral apparatus, which I would name rostrulum, appears to consist of seven pieces. First are a pair of triangular organs, the laminæ, which together somewhat resemble the beak of a bird, and are affixed, one on each side of the mouth, under the antennæ: these represent the mandibles of a perfect mouth[1397]. Next, a pair of long sharp lancets (Scalpella), which emerge from the head below the laminæ: these are analogous to maxillæ[1398]: a pair of palpi, consisting of four joints, are attached to these near their base[1399], which of course are maxillary palpi. And lastly, in the midst of all is a slender setiform organ (ligula), which is the counterpart of the tongue[1400]. Rösel, and after him Latreille, seem to have overlooked this last piece, since they reckon only six pieces in the flea's mouth[1401]: but the hand and eye of our friend Curtis have detected a seventh, as you see in his figure. From this account it appears, that the elongation of the organs of the Aphaniptera Order is at the expense of the labium and its palpi.

v. Rostellum.—So little is known of the composition of the next kind of imperfect mouth, that I need not enlarge upon it. It is peculiar to the louse tribe (Pediculidæ), and it consists of the tubulet (Tubulus), and siphuncle (Siphunculus). The former is slenderer in the middle than at the base and apex, the latter being turgid, rather spherical, and armed with claws which probably lay hold of the skin while the animal is engaged in suction. When not used, the whole machine is withdrawn within the head; the siphuncle, which is the suctorious part, being first retracted within the tubulet, in the same way as a snail retracts its tentacula[1402]. This apparatus seems formed at the expense of all the other organs.

There are some other kinds of imperfect mouth, which, though they seem not to merit each a distinct denomination, should not be passed altogether without notice. The first I shall mention is that of the family of Pupipara Latr. (Hippobosca L.). It consists of a pair of hairy coriaceous valves, which include a very slender rigid tube or siphuncle, the instrument of suction, which Latreille describes as formed by the union of two setiform pieces[1403]. In Melophagus, the sheep-louse, the union of the valves of the sheath is so short, that they appear like a tube; but if cut off they will separate, and show the siphuncle, as fine as a hair, between them. This organ is of a type so dissimilar, as was before observed, to that of the Diptera in general, and approaches so near to that of the dog-tick (Ixodes), that they may be deemed rather apterous insects with two wings, than to belong to that Order; and the circumstance that some of the family are apterous confirms this idea. In fact they are a transition family that connects the two Orders, but are nearest to the Aptera. In Nycteribia the oral organs differ from those of the other Pupipara in having palpi. This also is the case with those of the genus Ixodes, the palpi of which are placed upon the same base with the instrument of suction, than which they are longer: they appear to consist of two joints, the last very long and flat. The instrument of suction itself is formed by three hard rigid laminæ; two shorter parallel ones above, that cover the third, which is longer and broader, and armed on each side with several teeth like a saw, having their points towards the base[1404]. Many of the other Acari L. have mandibles, and several have not: but their oral organs have not yet been sufficiently examined; and from the extreme minuteness of most of them, this is no easy task; nor to ascertain in what points they differ or agree.

If you consider the general plan of the organs of manducation in the vertebrate animals, how few are the variations that it admits! An upper and a lower jaw planted with teeth, or a beak consisting of an upper or a lower mandible with a central tongue, form its principal features. But in the little world of insects, how wonderful and infinite is the diversity which, as you see, in this respect they exhibit! Consider the number of the organs, the varying forms of each in the different tribes, adjusted for nice variations in their uses:—how gradual, too, the transition from one to another! how one set of instruments is adapted to prepare the food for deglutition by mastication; another merely to lacerate it, so that its juices can be expressed; a third to lap a fluid aliment; a fourth to imbibe it by suction—and you will see and acknowledge in all the hand of an almighty and all-bountiful Creator, and glorify his wisdom, power, and goodness, so conspicuously manifested in the structure of the meanest of his creatures. You will see also, that all things are created after a pre-conceived plan; in which there is a regular and measured transition from one form to another, not only with respect to beings themselves, but also to their organs—no new organ being produced without a gradual approach to it; so that scarcely any change takes place that is violent and unexpected, and for which the way is not prepared by intermediate gradations. And when you further consider, that every being, with its every organ, is exactly fitted for its functions; and that every being has an office assigned, upon the due execution of which the welfare, in certain respects, of this whole system depends, you will clearly perceive that this whole plan, intire in all its parts, must have been coeval with the Creation; and that all the species,—subject to those variations only that climate and different food produce,—have remained essentially the same, or they would not have answered the end for which they were made, from that time to this.

Having given you this particular account of the trophi or organs of the mouth of insects, I must now make some observations upon the other parts of the head. I have divided it, as you see in the Table, into face and subface; the former including its upper and the latter its lower surface. Strictly speaking, some parts of the face, as the temples and cheeks, are common to both surfaces; but I do not therefore reckon them as belonging to the subface, which, exclusive of the mouth and its organs, consists only of the throat, and where there is a neck, the gula.

i. Nasus[1405].—I shall consider the parts of the face in the order in which they stand in the Table, beginning with the nasus or nose. Fabricius has denominated this part the clypeus, in which he has been followed by most modern Entomologists. You may therefore think, perhaps, that I have here unnecessarily altered a term so generally adopted, and expect that I assign some sufficient reasons for such a change. I have before hinted that there is good ground for thinking that the sense of smell in insects resides somewhere in the vicinity of this part; and when I come to treat of their senses, I shall produce at large those arguments that have induced me to adopt this opinion: and if I can make out this satisfactorily, you will readily allow the propriety of the denomination. I shall here only state those secondary reasons for the term, which, in my idea, prove that it is much more to the purpose than clypeus. This last word was originally applied by Linné in a metaphorical sense to the ample covering of the head of the Scarabæidæ, and the thoracic shield of Silpha, Cassida, Lampyris, and Blatta: in all which cases there was a propriety in the figurative use of it, because of the resemblance of the parts so illustrated to a shield. But when Fabricius (though he sometimes employs the term, as Linné did, merely for illustration,) admitted it into his orismological table, as a term to represent universally the anterior part of the face of insects to which the labrum is attached (though in some cases he designates the labrum itself by this name), it became extremely inappropriate; since in every case, except that of the Scarabæidæ, the part has no pretension to be called a shield;—so that the term is rather calculated to mislead than illustrate. This impropriety seems at length to have struck M. Latreille, since in a late essay[1406] he has changed the name of this part to Epistomis, a term signifying the part above the mouth. But there are reasons, exclusive of those hereafter to be produced concerning the sense of smell, which seem to me to prove that nasus is a preferable term; not to mention its claim of priority, as having been used to signify this part a century ago[1407]. When we come to consider the terms for the other parts of the head, as lips, jaws, tongue, eyes, temples, cheeks, forehead, &c. the concinnity, if I may so speak, and harmony of our technical language, seem to require that the part analogous in point of situation to the nose of vertebrate animals should bear the same name. And any person who had never examined an insect before, if asked to point out the nose of the animal, would immediately cast his eye upon this part: so that one of the principal uses of imposing names upon parts—that they might be more readily known—would be attained. If it is objected, that calling a part a nose that has not the sense of smell, supposing it to be so, might lead to mistakes—I would answer, that this objection is not regarded as valid in other cases: for instance, the maxillæ are not generally used as jaws, and yet no one objects to the term; because, from their situation, they evidently have an analogy to the organs whose name they bear. But enough on this subject—we will now consider the part itself.

To enable you to distinguish the nose of insects when it is not separated from the rest of the face by an impressed line, you must observe that it is the terminal middle part that sometimes overhangs the upper-lip, and at others is nearly in the same line with it; that on each side of it are the cheeks, which run from the anterior half of the eyes to the base of the mandibles. Just below the antennæ is sometimes another part distinct from the nose, which I shall soon have to mention; so that the nose must not be regarded as reaching always nearly to the base or insertion of the antennæ, since it sometimes occupies only half the space between them and the upper-lip, which space is marked out by an impressed line. But you will not always be left at such uncertainty when you want to ascertain the limits of the nose; for it is in many cases a distinct piece, separated by an elevated or impressed line from the rest of the face. This separation is either partial or universal. Take any species of the genera Copris, Onitis, or Ateuchus, and you will see the nose marked out in the centre of the anterior part of the face by two elevated lines, forming nearly a triangle and bounded by the horn[1408]. Or take a common wasp or hornet, and you will find a similar space, though approaching to a quadrangular figure, marked out by impressed lines[1409]. In Rhagio and Sciara, two Dipterous genera, this impression is so deep as to look like a suture. Between these lines, in those cases, is included what I call the nose. As to substance, in general it does not differ from the rest of the head; but in the Cleridæ it is almost membranous. You must observe, that in all these, what at first sight appears to be the termination of the front, is not the nose, but the narrow depressed piece that intervenes between it and the lip. With regard to its clothing, it is most commonly naked, but in some genera it is covered with hair; in Crabro F. often with golden or silver pile, which imparts a singular brilliance to the mouth of the insects of that genus: M. Latreille supposes that the brilliant colours of the golden-wasp (Chrysis L.) may dazzle their enemies, and so promote their escape[1410]; the brilliance of the mouth of the Crabro may on the contrary at first dazzle their prey for a moment, so as to prevent their escape. The form of the nose, where distinct from the rest of the face, admits of several variations: thus in the Staphylinidæ and Cleridæ it is transverse and linear; in Copris it is triangular, with the vertex of the triangle truncated; in Vespa Crabro it is subquadrate and sinuated. In many Heteromerous beetles[1411] it is rounded posteriorly: in Pelecotoma, a new genus in this tribe, related to Asida, there is a deep anterior sinus; in Blaps the anterior margin is concave; in Cetonia[1412] Brownii, and atropunctata (forming a distinct subgenus), it is bifid: it varies in the Scarabæidæ, in some being bidentate, in others quadridentate, and in others again sexdentate, including the cheeks: in Mylabris, a kind of blister-beetle, it is transverse and nearly oval; in Lamia, a capricorn-beetle, it represents a parallelogram; and in most Orthoptera it is subtriangular: in Tettigonia F. it is prominent, transversely furrowed, and divided by a longitudinal channel: in Otiocerus K. it presents the longitudinal section of a cone[1413]: in the Diptera Order, with the exception of the Tipulidæ and some others, in which it unites with the cheeks, &c. to form a rostrum, the nose in general, as to form, answers to its name, resembling that of many of the Mammalia: in some of the Asilidæ it is very tumid at the end, and terminates in a sinus, to permit the passage of the proboscis to and fro: in many of the Syrphidæ, &c. it is first flat and depressed, and then is suddenly elevated, so as to give the animal's head the air of that of a monkey: in some tribes, as Rhingia, Nemotelus, Eristalis, &c., in conjunction with the cheeks it forms a conical rostrum: in Tabanus bovinus, and other horse-flies, it terminates in three angles or teeth. Many more forms might be mentioned, but these will suffice to give you a general idea of them. In size and proportions the nose also varies. It is frequently, as in Tettigonia, the most conspicuous part of the face, both for size and characters; but in the Staphylinidæ it is very small, and often scarcely discernible, being overshadowed by its ample front: and it may be observed in general, that when the antennæ approximate the mouth, as in this genus and many others, the front becomes ample, and the nose is reduced to its minimum: but when they are distant from the mouth, the reverse takes place; and the nose is at its maximum and the front at its minimum. Mutilla, Myrmecodes, Scolia, &c. in the Hymenoptera, are an example of the former; and the Pompilidæ, Sphecidæ, Vespidæ, &c. of the latter. In Myopa buccata, &c. its length exceeds its width; but more commonly the reverse takes place. The circumscription of the nose also deserves attention. It is usually terminated behind by the front (frons), or, where it exists, by the postnasus, in the sides by the cheeks, and anteriorly by the labrum. But this is not invariably the case; for in the Cimicidæ, in which the cheeks form the bed of the Promuscis, the front embraces it on each side by means of two lateral processes, that sometimes meet or lap over each other anteriorly, which gives the nose the appearance of being insulated; but it really dips below these lobes to join the labrum. This structure you may see in Edessa F., and many other bugs. This part sometimes has its arms. Thus in Copris, and many Dynastidæ, the horns of the head seem, in part at least, to belong to this portion of it; in Tipula oleracea (the crane-fly), &c. it terminates before in a horizontal mucro. In Osmia cornuta, a kind of wild-bee, each side of the nose is armed with a vertical horn. The margin of the nose in most Lamellicorn insects, though mostly level, curves upwards.

I am next to mention a part of the nose which merits a distinct name and notice, which I conceive in some sort to be analogous to the nostrils of quadrupeds, and which I have therefore named the Rhinarium or nostril-piece. I had originally distinguished it by the plural term nares, nostrils; but as it is usually a single piece, I thought it best to denote it by one in the singular. When I treat of the senses of insects, I shall give you my reasons, as I have before said, for considering this part as the organ of scent, or connected with it, which you will then be able to appreciate. I shall only here observe, that the piece in question is in the usual situation of the nostrils—between the nose and the lip. In a large number of insects this part may be regarded as nearly obsolete; or at least it is merely represented by the very narrow membranous line that intervenes between the nose and the lip and connects them; which, as in the case of the head of Harpali before noticed, may be capable of tension and relaxation, and so present a greater surface to the action of the atmosphere. But I offer this as mere conjecture. In the lady-bird (Coccinella) this line is a little wider, and becomes a distinct Rhinarium; as it does also in Geotrupes. With respect to its insertion, the rhinarium is a piece that either entirely separates the nose from the lip, or only partially: the former is the most common structure. It is particularly remarkable in a New Holland genus of chafers (Anoplognathus Leach). In A. viridiæncus it is very ample, and forms the under side of the recurved nose, so that a large space intervenes between the margin of the latter and the base of the labrum. In Macropus Thunb., of the Capricorn tribe (Cerambyx L.), the nostril-piece, which forms a distinct segment, is narrower than the nose, and the upper-lip than the nostril-piece, forming as it were a triple gradation from the front to the mouth. Again, in others the part in question is received into a sinus of the nose. This is the case with the dragon-flies (Libellulina), in which this sinus is very wide; in the burying-beetle (Necrophorus)[1414], in some species of which it is deep but narrow; and in a species of Tenebrio from New Holland, which perhaps would make a subgenus. If you examine with a common glass any of the larger rove-beetles (Staphylinidæ), you will find that the nose itself seems lost in the nostril-piece, both together forming a very narrow line across the head above the labrum, without any apparent distinction between them; but if you have recourse to a higher magnifier, you will find this divided into an upper and lower part, the former of the hard substance of the rest of the head, and the latter membranous. I once was of opinion that the prominent transversely furrowed part, so conspicuous in the face of Tettigonia F.[1415], was the front: but upon considering the situation of this, chiefly below the eyes and antennæ, and comparing it with the analogous piece in Fulgora laternaria and other insects of the Homopterous section of the Hemiptera, I incline to think that it represents the nose, and that the longitudinal ridge below it is the nostril-piece[1416]. In the Heteropterous section it is merely the vertical termination of their narrow nose. In other insects again, this part approaches in some measure to the common idea of nostrils; there being two, either one on each side the nose, or two approximated ones. If you catch the first humble-bee that you see busy upon a flower, you will discover a minute membranous protuberance under each angle of the nose. Something similar may be observed in some species of Asilus L. In the Orthoptera, especially in Blatta, Phasma, and some Locustæ, two roundish or square pieces, close to each other on the lower part of the nose, represent the nostrils[1417].—With regard to substance, in the chafer-tribes, at least those that feed on leaves or living vegetable matter, as the Melolonthidæ, Anoplognathidæ, and in many other insects, the rhinarium is of the same substance with the rest of the head; but in Macropus Thunb., Staphylinus, Necrophorus, &c., it consists of membrane.

ii. Postnasus[1418].—This is a part that appears to have been confounded by Entomologists with the front of insects; in general, indeed, it may be regarded as included in the nose, and does not require separate notice: but there are many cases in which it is distinctly marked out and set by itself, and in which it forms a useful diagnostic of genera or subgenera. There is a very splendid and beautiful Chinese beetle, to be seen in most collections of foreign insects (Sagra purpurea), in which this part forms a striking feature, and helps to distinguish the genus from its near neighbour Donacia. If you examine its face, you will discover a triangular piece, below the antennæ and above the nasus, separated from the latter and from the front by a deeply-impressed line: this is the postnasus or after-nose. Again: if you examine any specimens of a Hymenopterous genus called by Fabricius Prosopis (Hylæus Latr.), remarkable for its scent of baum, you will find a similar triangle marked out in a similar situation[1419]. In many Coleopterous insects, besides Sagra, you will discover traces of the part we are considering: as in Anthia, Dytiscus, and several others of the Predaceous beetles. In Cistela it is larger than the nose itself; but it is more conspicuous in the Orthoptera, particularly in Locusta (Gryllus F.), in which it is the space below the antennæ, distinguished by two or four rather diverging ridges[1420]. In the Libellulina, Myrmeleonina, &c. it is a distinct transverse piece. In Dasyga Latr., a kind of bee, it is armed with a transverse ridge or horn—But enough has been said to render you acquainted with it; I shall therefore proceed to the next piece.

iii. Frons[1421].—The Front of insects may be denominated the middle part of the face between the eyes, bounded anteriorly by the nose, or after-nose, where it exists, and the cheeks; laterally by the eyes; and posteriorly by the vertex. Speaking properly, it is the region of the antennæ; though when these organs are placed before the eyes, under the margin of the nose, as in many Lamellicorn and Heteromerous beetles, they seem to be rather nasal than frontal. This part is often elevated, as in the elastic beetles (Elater), whose faculty of jumping, by means of a pectoral spring, has been related to you[1422]. In Anthia, a Predaceous beetle, it has often three longitudinal ridges. In many of the Capricorn beetles (Cerambyx L.), it is nearly in the shape of a Calvary cross, with the arms forming an obtuse angle, and then terminating at the sinus of the eyes in an elevation for the site of the antennæ. In the ants also (Formicidæ), the front is often elevated between those organs. In Ponera, one tribe of them, this elevation is bilobed, and receives between its lobes the vertex of the postnasus. In the hornet (Vespa Crabro) the elevation is a triangle, with its vertex towards the mouth. In Sagra it is marked out into three triangles, the postnasus making a fourth, with the vertexes meeting in the centre. In the Dynastidæ and Scarabæidæ the horns are often frontal appendages, as is that of Empusa Latr., a leaf-insect, and probably those of Sphinx Iatrophæ F., which affords a singular instance of a horned Lepidopterous one. Sometimes it is an ample space, reducing the nose to a very narrow line, as in the Staphylinidæ, or sending forth a lobe on each side, as before mentioned, which embraces the nose. In a species of bug from Brazil, related to Aradus F., these lobes are dilated, foliaceous, and meet before the nose, so as to form a remarkable extended frontlet to the head. In others this part is extremely minute: thus in many male flies and other insects, as the Libellulina, where the eyes touch each other, the front is cut off from the vertex and reduced to a small angle. In the female flies the communication with the vertex is kept open, and the front consequently longer. In the horse-flies (Tabanidæ), in Hæmatopota, and Heptatoma, the frontal space is wider than in the rest of that tribe. Many of these are distinguished by a levigated area behind the antennæ in the part we are treating of. In the Libellulina, and in the drone-bee, whose eyes are confluent, the stemmata are in the front. In many Orthoptera also, as Locusta Leach, one of them is below the antennæ; and in the lanthorn-fly tribe (Fulgoridæ), both these organs, which are situate between them and the eyes, as they do also in Truxalis, appear to be in it[1423]. In this tribe the rostrum is an elongation of the part in question; and perhaps you would think at first that what I have considered as the nose in Tettigonia F. was also a tendency to this kind of rostrum; but if you examine the great lanthorn-fly (Fulgora laternaria), you will find besides, at the lower base of the lanthorn, a triangular piece analogous to the nose of Tettigonia, and below it another representing its nostril-piece:—the horizontal part of the nose in that genus may perhaps be regarded as part of the front. In Truxalis F. the face consists of a supine and prone surface, and the latter is composed of the front, after-nose, nose, and organs of the mouth. I may notice here a most remarkable and singular tribe of bugs, of which two species have been figured by Stoll[1424]: in these the head, or rather those parts of it that we have now been describing, the nose, namely, the after-nose, and front, are absolutely divided longitudinally in two, each half having an eye and antenna planted in it; or perhaps, as it is stated to be divided in one instance to the commencement of the promuscis, the nose is left intire, and dips down, as in cases before alluded to: so that in this the nose appears to leave the lobes of the front, which in others embrace its sides.

iv. Vertex[1425].—We now come to the vertex, or crown of the head; which is situated behind the front, and, except where the communication is intercepted by confluent eyes, adjoins it. It is laterally bounded by the hind part of the eyes and the temples; and posteriorly, where that part exists, by the occiput. The vertex may be denominated the ordinary region of the stemmata: for though in several cases, as we have just seen, one or more of them are planted in the front; yet this in the great majority, especially in the Hymenoptera, is their natural station. In Blatta and some other Orthoptera the posterior angle of the head is the vertex. In many dung-chafers of Latreille's genus Onthophagus, which are said to have occipital horns, as O. nutans, nuchicornis, Xiphias, &c., the horn really arms the part I regard as the vertex. In Locusta Leach, this part is very ample, and in Truxalis very long; but more generally it is small, and not requiring particular notice.

v. Occiput[1426].—The occiput, or hind-head, is that part of the face that either forms an angle with the vertex posteriorly, or slopes downwards from it. It has for its lateral boundaries the temples, and behind it is either terminated by the orifice of the head, or in many cases by the neck. In those beetles that have no neck, as the Lamellicorn and Capricorn, the hind-head is merely a declivity from the vertex, usually concealed by the shield of the thorax, very lubricous, to facilitate its motion in the cavity of that part, and at its posterior margin distinguished by one or two notches, which I shall notice hereafter, for the attachment of the levator muscles: but in those beetles or other insects that have a neck, or a versatile head, the occiput forms an angle with the vertex, often rounded, and sometimes acute. This structure may be seen in Latreille's Trachelides, and several other beetles. In the Hymenoptera, Diptera, and others with a versatile head, the part now under consideration curves inwards from the vertical line, so as with the temples and under parts of the head to form a concavity adapted to its movement upon the trunk.

vi. Genæ[1427].—The cheeks of insects (Genæ) usually surround the anterior part of the eyes, and lie between them and the mandibles or their representatives. Where they approach the latter, as in the Predaceous beetles (Cicindela, Carabus L. &c.), they are very short, and of course longer where the eyes are further removed from the mouth; as in the Rhyncophorous beetles (Curculio L.), where they form the sides of the rostrum, and often contain a channel which receives the first joint of the antennæ, when they are unemployed. In the Scarabæidæ and many other Lamellicorn beetles, their separation on each side from the nose is marked by a ridge[1428]; and in the wasps (Vespa) by an impressed line or channel. In an African tribe at present arranged with Cetonia F., to which C. bicornis Latr.[1429] and another, which he has named, I believe, C. vitticollis, belong, the cheeks are porrected on each side of the mouth into a horizontal horn. These horns have at first the aspect of a pair of open mandibles. In the magnificent Goliathi Lam., the horns of the male are rather a process of the cheek than of the nose. In Alurnus, Hispa, and other beetles, these parts, by their elevation and conjunction with the lower side of the head, form a kind of fence which surrounds and protects the oral organs; in many Cimicidæ, by a similar elevation of the cheeks, the bed of the promuscis is formed. In the Homopterous Hemiptera they run parallel nearly with the rhinarium or nostril-piece. In the Hymenoptera they are almost always ample, but they are confined to the lower side of the eye. In Sirex grandis, and others of that genus, the cheek at the base of the mandible is dilated so as to form a rounded tooth below it. In the Capricorn-beetles it is considerable, and sometimes terminates, at the base of the mandible, in two or three notches. In Scaurus and Eurychora, darkling-beetles, the cheek below projects into a lobe that covers the base of the maxilla. But the animal distinguished by the most remarkable cheeks is a species of Phryganea L. (Phryganea personata Spence); for from this part projects a spoon-shaped process, which curves upwards, and uniting with that of the other cheek, forms an ample mask before the face, the anterior and upper margin of which, in the insect's natural state, are closely united; and the posterior part being applied to the anterior part of the eye, causes the face to appear much swoln. It looks as if it was a single piece; but upon pressing the thorax it opens, both above and in front, into two parts, each convex without and hollow within, and each having attached to its inside a yellow tuft of hair resembling a feather. The use of this machinery at present remains a mystery[1430].

vii. Tempora[1431].—The temples (Tempora) are merely a continuation of the cheeks to the posterior limit of the head, forming its sides and posterior angles, and including the hinder part of the eyes, the vertex, and the occiput. They seldom exhibit any tangible character, except in certain ants (Atta Latr.), in which their angle terminates in one or two strong spines, giving the animal a most ferocious aspect; and in that remarkable genus Corydalis they are armed below with a tooth or point, which was not overlooked by De Geer[1432].

viii. Oculi[1433].—I must now call your attention to organs of more importance and interest, and which indeed include a world of wonders: I mean the eyes (Oculi) of insects. These differ widely from those of vertebrate animals, being incapable of motion. They may be regarded as of three descriptions—simple, conglomerate, and compound.

1. Simple Eyes[1434]. We will consider them as to their number, structure, shape, colour, magnitude, situation, and arrangement.

As to their number, they vary from two to sixteen. In the flea, the louse, the harvest-man (Phalangium), there are only a pair; in the bird-louse of the goose (Nirmus Anseris), and probably in others of the same genus, there are four[1435]; in some spiders (Scytodes, Dysdera, and Segestria Latr.[1436]), and some scorpions[1437], there are six. In the majority of spiders and Scolopendra morsitans, Scorpio maurus, &c. there are eight; and in Podura and Sminthurus Latr. there are sixteen[1438].

As to their structure, nothing seems to have been ascertained; probably their organization does not materially differ from that of one of the lenses of a compound eye; which I shall soon explain to you.

Their colour in the many is black and shining, but in the bird-louse of the goose they are quite white and transparent. In spiders they are often of a sapphirine colour, and clear as crystal. In Scolopendra morsitans and many spiders, scorpions, and phalangia[1439], they appear to consist of iris and pupil, which gives them a fierce glare, the centre of the eye being dark and the circumference paler. In the celebrated Tarantula (Lycosa Tarantula), the pupil is transparent, and red as a ruby; and the iris more opaque, paler, and nearly the colour of amber.

Where there are more than two, they vary in magnitude. In the enormous bird-spider (Mygale avicularia) the four external eyes are larger than the four internal[1440]; but in the Tarantula and Sphasus, the two or four internal are the largest. In Clubiona and Drassus they are all nearly of the same size[1441]; and in the Micrommata family they are very small[1442].

They vary also in shape. In Scolopendra morsitans the three anterior ones are round, and the posterior one transverse, and somewhat triangular. In Mygale calpeiana, a spider, the two smallest are round and the rest oval[1443]. In the trapdoor or mason spider (Mygale cæmentaria), the four small internal ones are round, and the large external ones oval[1444]; and those that are circumscribed posteriorly with an impressed semicircle, are shaped like the moon when gibbous[1445].

The situation and arrangement of simple eyes are also various. In many they are imbedded, as usual, in the head; but in the little scarlet mite, formerly noticed[1446], (Trombidium holosericeum), they stand upon a small foot-stalk[1447]: the hairiness of this animal might otherwise have impeded its sight. In spiders they are planted on the back of the part that represents the head, sometimes four on a central elevation or tubercle, and the remaining four below it—as in Lycosa; sometimes the whole eight are on a tubercle, as in Mygale; and sometimes, as in the common garden-spider (Epeira Diadema), upon three tubercles, four on the central one and two on each of the lateral ones. Other variations in this respect might be named in this tribe. In the scorpions a pair are placed one on each side, on a dorsal tubercle, and the other four or six on two lateral ones of the anterior part of the head[1448]. In the Phalangidæ the frontal eyes of the scorpion cease, and only a pair of dorsal ones are inserted vertically in the sides of a horn or tubercle, either bifid or simple, often itself standing upon an elevation which emerges from the back of the animal[1449]. If their eyes were not in a vertical and elevated position, the sight of these insects would be very limited; but by means of the structure just stated, they get a considerable range of surrounding objects, as well as of those above them. With regard to the arrangement of the eyes we are considering, it varies much. Sometimes they are placed nearly in the segment of a circle, as in those spiders that have six eyes only, before noticed[1450]; sometimes in two straight lines[1451]; at others in two segments of a circle[1452]; at others, in three lines[1453], and at others in four[1454]. Again, in some instances they form a cross, or two triangles[1455]; in others, two squares[1456]; in others, a smaller square included in a large one[1457]; in others, a posterior square and two anterior triangles[1458]; sometimes a square and two lines. Though generally separate from each other, in several cases two of the eyes touch[1459]; and in one instance three coalesce into a triangle[1460]. But it would be endless to mention all the variations, as to arrangement, in the eyes of spiders.

2. Conglomerate Eyes[1461] differ in nothing from simple eyes, except that instead of being dispersed they are collected into a body, so as at first sight to exhibit the appearance of a compound eye:—they are, however, not hexagonal, and are generally convex. They occur in Lepisma, the Iulidæ, and several of the Scolopendridæ. In Scolopendra forficata the eye consists of about twenty contiguous, circular, pellucid lenses, arranged in five lines, with another larger behind them, as a sentinel or scout, placed at some little distance from the main body. In the common millepede (Iulus terrestris) there are twenty-eight of these eyes, placed in seven rows, and forming a triangle, thus —the posterior row containing seven lenses, the next six, and so on, gradually losing one, till the last terminates in unity. Each of these lenses is umbilicated, or marked with a central depression. In Craspedosoma Leach, you will find a similar formation. In Glomeris zonata, a kind of wood-louse that rolls itself into a ball, the lenses are arranged in a line curved at the lower end, with a single one by itself at the posterior end on the outside; they are oblong and set transversely, and their white hue and transparency give them the appearance of so many minute gems, especially as contrasted with the black colour of the animal[1462]. Between these eyes and the antennæ is another transverse linear white body, but opaque, seemingly set in a socket, and surrounded by a white elevated line, like the bezel of a ring. Whether it is an eye, or what organ, I cannot conjecture[1463]. Its aspect is that of a spiracle.

3. Compound Eyes[1464].—These are the most common kind of eye in hexapod insects, when arrived at their perfect state; in their larva state, as we have seen, their eyes being usually simple[1465]; except, indeed, those whose metamorphosis is semicomplete, which have compound eyes in every state.—In considering compound eyes, I shall advert to their structure, number, situation, figure, clothing, colour, and size.

As to their structure,—when seen under the microscope they appear to consist usually of an infinite number of convex hexagonal pieces. If you examine with a good glass the eye of any fly, you will find it traversed by numberless parallel lines, with others equally numerous cutting them at right angles, so as apparently to form myriads of little squares, with each a lens of the above figure set in it. The same structure, though often not so easily seen, obtains in the eyes of Coleoptera and other insects. When the eye is separated and made clean, these hexagons are as clear as crystal. Reaumur fitted one eye to a lens, and could see through it well, but objects were greatly multiplied[1466]. In Coleopterous insects they are of a hard and horny substance; but in Diptera, &c. more soft and membranous. The number of lenses in an eye varies in different insects. Hooke computed those in the eye of a horse-fly to amount to nearly 7,000[1467]; Leeuwenhoeck found more than 12,000 in that of a dragon-fly[1468]; and 17,325 have been counted in that of a butterfly[1469]. But of all insects they seem to be most numerous in the beetles of Mr. W. S. MacLeay's genus Dynastes. In the eyes of these the lenses are so small as not to be easily discoverable even under a pocket microscope, except the eye has turned white[1470]: it is not, therefore, wonderful, that Fabricius should call these eyes simple[1471]. In some insects, however, as in the Strepsiptera Kirby, the lenses are not numerous: in Xenos they do not exceed fifty, and are distinctly visible to the naked eye[1472]. These lenses vary in magnitude, not only in different, but sometimes in the same eyes. This is the case in those of male horse-flies and flies, those of the upper part of the eye being much larger than those of the lower[1473]. The partitions that separate the lenses, or rather bezels, in which they are set, are very visible in the eyes just mentioned, and those of Xenos; but in many insects they are only discernible at the intersecting lines of separation between the lenses. In hairy eyes, such as those of the hive-bee, the hairs emerge from these septa. Every single lens of a compound eye may be considered as a cornea, or a crystalline humour, it being convex without and concave within, but thicker in the middle than at the margin: it is the only transparent part to be found in these most remarkable eyes. Immediately under the cornea is an opaque varnish, varying according to the species, which produces sometimes in one and the same eye spots or bands of different colours. These spots and bands form a distinguishing ornament of many of the Tabani and other flies. And to this varnish the lace-winged flies (Hemerobius, &c.) are indebted for the beautiful metallic hues that often adorn them. When insects are dead, this varnish frequently loses its colour, and the eye turns white: hence many species are described as having white eyes which when alive had black ones. The consistence of this covering is the same with that of the varnish of the choroid in the eyes of vertebrate animals; but it entirely covers the underside of the lens, without leaving any passage for the light. Below this varnish there are numbers of short white hexagonal prisms[1474], every one of which enters the concavity of one of the lenses of the cornea, and is only separated from it by the varnish just described: this may be considered as the retina of the lens to which it is attached; but at present it has not been clearly explained how the light can act upon a retina of this description through an opaque varnish. Below this multitude of threads (for such the bodies appear), perpendicular to the cornea, is a membrane which serves them all for a base, and which consequently is nearly parallel with that part. It is very thin, of a black colour, not produced by a varnish; and in it may be seen very fine white tracheæ, which send forth branches still finer, that penetrate between the prisms of the cornea: this membrane may be called the choroid. Behind this is a thin expansion of the optic nerve, which is a true nervous membrane, precisely similar to the retina of red-blooded animals. It appears that the white pyramidal threads which form the retina of each lens are sent forth by this general retina, and pierce the choroid by a number of almost imperceptible holes[1475]. From this description it appears that the eyes of insects have nothing corresponding with the uvea or humours of those of vertebrate animals, but are of a type peculiar to themselves.

Having explained to you the wonderful and complex structure with which it has pleased the Creator to distinguish the organs of vision of these minute beings, proving, what I have so often asserted, that when animals seem approaching to nonentity, where one would expect them to be most simple, we find them in many cases most complex, I shall now call your attention to the next thing I am to consider—the number of the eyes in question. Most insects have only two; but there are several exceptions to this rule. Those that have occasion to see both above and below the head, the eyes of all being immovable, must have them so placed as to enable them to do this. This end is accomplished in many beetles, for instance Scarabæus L., Helæus Latr., &c., by having these organs fixed in the side of the head, so that part looks upward and part downward; but in others four are given for this purpose. If you examine the common whirlwig (Gyrinus Natator) that I have so often mentioned[1476], which has occasion, at the same time, to observe objects in the air and in the water, you will find it is gifted with this number of eyes. Lamia Tornator (Cerambyx tetrophthalmus Forst.) and some others, of which I make a genus, under the appellation of Tetrops, are also so distinguished. In these insects, one eye is above and the other below the base of the antennæ; in fact, in these the canthus, instead of dividing the eye partially, as in the other Capricorn-beetles, runs quite through it at considerable width[1477]. In Ryssonotus MacLeay (Lucanus nebulosus K.) the eye appears also to be divided in two by the canthus. In the Neuroptera Order there is more than one instance of the same kind. In Ascalaphus there are two considerable eyes on each side of the head, which, though clearly distinct, meet like those of many male flies and the drone. The male, likewise, of more than one species of Ephemera, besides the common lateral eyes and the stemmata on the back of the head, have a pair of compound eyes on the top of a short columnar process[1478]. In the Hemiptera Order, also, an instance occurs of four eyes in the genus Aleyrodes[1479]. Amongst the vertebrate animals, there is an example of eyes with two pupils in Anableps, a genus of fishes[1480], but no vertebrate animal has four of these organs. That many insects should have more than two eyes, will not seem to you so extraordinary as that any should be found that, like the Cyclops of old, have only one. There is, however, an insect, before celebrated for its agility[1481] (Machilis polypoda Latr.), which has a single eye in its forehead; or we may say, its eyes are confluent, without any line of distinction between them except a small notch behind. Now that I am treating of the number of eyes, I must not forget to observe to you, that in some insects no eyes at all have been discovered. In Polydesmus complanatus, on each side of the head there is an eye-shaped portion separated by a suture, in which under a powerful lens I cannot satisfy myself that I can discern any thing like the facets that usually distinguish compound eyes. In Geophilus electricus, another myriapod, they certainly do not exist[1482]. Whence we may conclude, as was before observed[1483], that the faculty of emitting light is rather given it as a means of defence than to guide it in its path.

The situation of compound eyes differs in different tribes. In some, as in the Staphylinidæ, they are planted laterally in the anterior part of the head; in others, the Carabi &c., in the middle; in others again, Locusta Leach &c., in the posterior part. In some, their station is more in the upper surface, either before or behind; so that a very narrow space separates them, or perhaps none at all. Instances of this position of the eyes occur in a minute weevil (Ramphus Clairv.[1484]), and many Diptera, &c. Of those that form an union on the top of the head, some are placed obliquely, so as to leave a diverging space below them, as in many Libellulina[1485], the drone[1486], &c. Others, as Atractocerus, in which the eyes occupy nearly the whole head, and unite anteriorly, have this diverging space above their conflux. In Rhina barbirostris Latr., another kind of weevil, they are confluent below the head, at the base of the rostrum, and a very narrow interval separates them above. In a large number of the Heteromerous beetles, they are set transversely, in the Capricorn ones longitudinally. Their surface, when they are lateral, has usually two aspects, one prone to see below, the other supine to see above. In general the eyes are situated behind the antennæ, so that their position, whether it shall be anterior or posterior, depends upon that of those organs. Often, indeed, as in the last-named beetles, part of the eye is behind and part before the antennæ; but except where there are four eyes, as in Tetrops, they are never placed before or below them.

Though the eyes of insects are generally sessile, yet to give them a wider range they are sometimes, but it rarely occurs, placed, like those of many Crustacea, on a footstalk, but not a moveable one. An instance of this in certain male Ephemeræ has already been mentioned. In the Hemiptera De Geer has figured two species of bugs (Cimicidæ) that are so circumstanced[1487]; as are also all the known Strepsiptera K., though in these the footstalk is very short[1488]: but the most remarkable example of columnar eyes is afforded by that curious Dipterous genus Diopsis, in which both eyes and antennæ stand upon a pair of branches, vastly longer than the head, which diverge at a very obtuse angle from its posterior part[1489].

In their figure eyes vary much. Sometimes they are so prominent as to be nearly spherical: this is the case with some aquatic bugs, as Ranatra, Hydrometra, and several male Ephemeræ[1490]. Very often they are hemispherical, as in the tiger-beetles (Cicindela L.), and the clocks or dors (Carabus L.); but in a large number of insects they are flat, and do not rise above the surface of the head.—With regard to their outline, they are often perfectly round, as in many weevils; oval, as in various bees; ovate, as in other bees (Andrena F.); triangular, as in the water-boatman (Notonecta). They are also often oblong, and occasionally narrow and linear; as in that singular beetle Helæus. In many of the Muscidæ they form nearly a semicircle, or rather, perhaps, the quadrant of a sphere. The eyes of the Capricorn-beetles (Cerambyx L.) have a sinus on their inner side, as it were, taken out of them; so that they more than half surround the antennæ, before which is the longest portion of them. An approach to this shape is more or less observed in the darkling-beetles (Tenebrio L.); but in these the sinus is not so deep. I may under this head observe, that in those Mantidæ that represent dry leaves, and some others, these organs usually terminate in a spine[1491].

Though not distinguished by the beauty and animation that give such interest to the eye of vertebrate animals, and exhibiting no trace of iris or pupil, yet from the variety of their colours the compound eyes of insects, though most commonly black or brown, are often very striking. Look at those of one of the lace-winged flies that commit such havoc amongst the Aphides[1492], and it will dazzle you with the splendour of the purest gold, sometimes softened with a lovely green. The lenses of those of Xenos blaze like diamonds set in jet[1493]. You have often noticed the fiery eyes of many horse-flies (Tabanus L.) with vivid bands of purple and green[1494]. Others are spotted[1495]; and Schellenberg has figured one (Thereva hemiptera)[1496], that exhibits the figure of a flower painted in red on a black ground. These colours and markings are all most vivid and brilliant in the living insect, and often impart that fire and animation to the eyes for which those of the higher animals are remarkable. Take one of the large dragon-flies that you see hawking about the hedges in search of prey, examine its eyes under a lens, and you will be astonished at the brilliance and crystalline transparency which its large eyes exhibit, and by the remarkable vision of larger hexagons which appear in motion under the cornea, being reflected by the retina—all which give it the appearance of a living eye. This moving reflexion of the hexagonal lenses in living insects was noticed long since in some bees (Nomada F., Cœlioxys Latr.)[1497]

Compound eyes differ greatly in their size. In some insects, as Atractocerus, the drone-bee, many male Muscidæ, &c., they occupy nearly the whole of the head; while in others, as numerous Staphylinidæ, Locusta Leach, &c., they are so small as to be scarcely larger than some simple eyes of spiders: and they exhibit every intermediate difference of magnitude in different tribes, genera, and species.

Under this head I must say something of the Canthus of the eye; by which I mean an elevated process of the cheek, which in almost all the genera of the Lamellicorn beetles enters the eye more or less, dividing the upper portion from the lower. Though usually only a process of the cheek, yet in the Scarabæidæ the whole of that part forms the canthus[1498]. It only enters the eye in the Rutelidæ, Cetonidæ, &c.; it extends through half of it in Copris; it goes beyond the half in Ateuchus; and in Ryssonotus MacLeay (Lucanus nebulosus K.) it quite divides the eye into two[1499], as I before observed. In Lucanus, Passalus &c. it projects before the eye into an angle; in Lucanus femoralis nearly into a spine; but in Lamprima and Œsalus it does not exist. The part, also, that enters the eye in the Capricorn-beetles may be regarded as a kind of canthus, though it is merely a dilatation of the front.

4. Stemmata[1500].—Having given so full an account of the kinds and structure of the ordinary eyes of insects, you may perhaps expect that I should now dismiss the subject: you would, however, have great cause to blame me, did I not make you acquainted with a kind of auxiliary eyes with which a large portion of them are gifted; I mean those pellucid spots often to be found on the posterior part of the front of these animals, or upon the vertex, frequently arranged in a triangle. These, Linné, from his regarding them as a kind of coronet, called Stemmata. They have been of late denominated Ocelli; but as this latter term is also in general use for the eyelets on the wings of Lepidoptera, I have adhered to that of the illustrious Swede. Neither he nor Fabricius has expressed any opinion as to the use of these organs; but Swammerdam and Reaumur were aware that they were real eyes. The former found that there are nerves that diverge to them though not easily traced, and that they have a cornea, and what he takes for the uvea[1501]; and the latter has supposed that the compound eyes and these simple ones have, the one the power of magnifying objects much, and the other but little, so that the former are for surveying those that are distant, and the latter those that are near[1502]. The same author relates some experiments that he tried with the common hive bee, by which he ascertained that the stemmata, as well as the compound eyes, were organs of vision. He first smeared the latter over with paint, and the animals, instead of making for their hive, rose in the air till he lost sight of them. He next did the same with the former, and placing the bees whose stemmata he had painted within a few paces of their hive, they flew about on all sides among the neighbouring plants, but never far: he did not observe that these ever rose in the air like the others[1503]. From this experiment it seems as if the compound eyes were for horizontal sight, and the stemmata for vertical.

The definition of them by Linné and Fabricius as smooth, shining, elevated or hemispheric puncta, conveys a very inadequate idea of them; for, except in a very few instances, they are perfectly clear and transparent, and their appearance is precisely the same as that of the simple eyes of Arachnida &c., under which head they might very well have been arranged; but as the last are primary eyes, and the stemmata secondary, it seemed to me best that they should stand by themselves. The structure of both is probably the same, and their internal organization that of one of the lenses of a compound eye, and both are set in a socket of the head.

Though a large number of insects have them, they are by no means universal, since some Orders, as the Strepsiptera, Dermaptera, and Aptera, are altogether without them. The Coleoptera, also, have been supposed to afford no instance of species furnished with them; but in the last number of Germar and Zincken Sommer's Magasin, it is affirmed that they are discoverable in Gravenhorst's genus Omalium, but not in the kindred genera Micropeplus and Anthophagus[1504]. Upon examining the former genus, I find, that although Omalium planum and affinities, O. striatulum, and some others, appear not to have them, yet with the aid of a good magnifier they may be discovered in most species of that genus; as likewise in Evœsthetus Grav. I find them also very conspicuous in A. Caraboides and other Anthophagi, but some species appear to want them. In these insects they are two in number, situated in the vertex a little behind the eyes but within them, and either at each end of a transverse furrow, or at the posterior termination of two longitudinal ones. Nor are they found in all the genera of the other Orders. In the Orthoptera, the Blattidæ, unless a white smooth spot on the inner and upper side of the eyes may be regarded as representing them, have them not; but in all the other genera of that Order they are to be found[1505]. In the Hemiptera all the Cicadiadæ are gifted with them; as are likewise Tetyra, Pentatoma, with many other Cimicidæ, and the Reduviadæ very remarkably; but many others in both sections of this order, as Thrips, Coccus, Aphis, Capsus, Miris, Naucoris, Nepa, and Notonecta, &c. are deprived of them[1506]. Of the Neuroptera the Libellulina add stemmata to their large eyes, in the anterior angle of which they are stationed[1507]; but many other genera of that Order are without them; as Myrmeleon, Ascalaphus, Hemerobius, &c. The Trichoptera and Lepidoptera universally have them; though in the latter, except in Castnia and the Sphingidæ, they are not easily seen. In the Hymenoptera they are usually very conspicuous, but in Larra and Lyrops, two genera of this order, the posterior pair are scarcely discernible; and in the neuter ants they are quite obsolete. In the Diptera, though many genera are furnished with them, yet many also want them; amongst the rest Latreille's Tipulariæ, and all the horse-flies (Tabanus L.). The Pupiparæ (Hippobosca L.) usually have none; but in Ornithomyia avicularia, one of that tribe, though extremely minute they are visible, arranged in a triangle, in the polished space of their vertex.

As to the Number of the stemmata, three appears to be most universal. Reaumur mentions an instance in which he counted four in a fly with two threads at its tail; but great doubt rests upon this statement[1508]. Some Orthopterous genera, as Gryllotalpa, and many Hemipterous, as Tetyra, Pentatoma, Reduvius[1509], Cercopis, Fulgora[1510], &c., have no more than two; and in Larra and its affinities, as just observed, the posterior ones are obsolete, so as to leave only one discernible.

Where there are three of these organs, they are usually arranged in an obverse triangle in the space behind the antennæ, at a greater or less distance from them. In those male flies (Muscidæ) whose eyes are confluent, the stemmata are in a little area behind their conflux; but, as before observed, in the drone-bee and the Libellulina they are before it. This triangle is in some cases nearly equilateral, as in Perla related to the may-flies, and many Hymenoptera; in others it is acutangular, as in Locusta &c., in which the stemma forming the vertex of the triangle is before the antenna[1511]: in others, again, it is obtusangular, as you will see in Pepsis and various Hymenoptera. In the humble-bees (Bombus), a line drawn through them would form a slight curve. Their situation also varies. In insects that have only two, they are sometimes placed a little behind the eyes, or in the back part of the space between them: this is the case with most of the bugs (Cimex L.) that have them.—They are often distant, as in Tetyra F., Edessa F.; and sometimes approximated, as in Reduvius F.[1512] In many of the Homopterous Hemiptera, as Cercopis, Ledra, &c. they are planted in the upper part of the head[1513], but in Iassus their situation is on the under part; and in a North American subgenus, as yet without a name, they are exactly between the two, being placed in the frontal angle. In Fulgora their station is between the eyes and antennæ[1514]. They are most commonly sessile, and as it were set in the head; but in some, as Fulgora candelaria, they stand on a footstalk. The stemmata are set in the side of a frontal tubercle in that four-winged fly of threatening aspect, Corydalis, which in its perfect state has mandibles, but longer and more tremendous, like those that distinguish the larva only of the kindred genus Hemerobius[1515]. These organs differ little in shape, being usually perfectly round and somewhat convex; but occasionally they vary in this respect. In Fulgora serrata they are oblong, with a longitudinal depression; in F. Diadema they are also umbilicated, but the umbilicus is circular; in Corydalis they are oval; in other insects they are ovate; in some semicircular, and in a few triangular. They vary much in size: in some of these animals being so minute as to be scarcely visible, while in others, as Corydalis, Dorylus, Vespa pallida F., Reduvius, &c.[1515], they are as large as some compound eyes. They differ also in colour, though often black: in Fulgora laternaria they are of a beautiful yellow; in F. candelaria they are white; in many Hymenoptera they are crystalline, in others red: the fierce look of Reduvius personatus is rendered more hateful by its stemmata having a pale iris round a dark pupil[1516].

Let us here stop and adore the goodness of a beneficent Creator, who, though he has deprived these little beings of the moveable eyes with which he has gifted the higher animals, has made it up to them by the variety and complex structure of their organs of vision, where we have only two points of sight, giving them more than as many myriads.

5. Antennæ.—But of all the organs of insects, none appear to be of more importance to them than their Antennæ, and none certainly are more wonderful and more various in their structure, and probably uses. Upon this last particular I shall enlarge hereafter. Their structure, as far as it differs in the sexes, I fully discussed in a former letter[1517]; and the most remarkable kinds of them will be included in a set of definitions which I shall draw up for you before our correspondence on this part of my subject closes: I shall therefore now confine myself to the following particulars—namely, their number, insertion, substance, situation, proportion, general form and structure, clothing, expansion, motions, and station of repose.

As to their Number, in the majority of crustaceous animals the antennæ amount to four, but no insect has more than two. A genus recently established (Otiocerus Kirby[1518]) seems to afford an exception to this rule, since the species composing it at first sight appear to have four, and in some instances even six antennæ; but as only two of them terminate in a bristle, the other, though proceeding from the same bed of membrane, may perhaps be regarded as merely appendages. Germar, who has described a species of this genus[1519] under the name of Cobax Wintheri, considers these appendages as analogous to palpi: but as they do not proceed from the oral organs, but from the bed of the antennæ at the base of the nose[1520], they ought certainly to be regarded rather as accessories to the latter, than as representing the former. In the Aptera order the mites (Acacus L.) appear to be without these organs. In the pupiparous tribe Hippobosca they seem about to disappear; and in the Arachnida &c., as has been more than once observed[1521], the mandibulæ have been thought to represent, not indeed the antennæ of insects, but the inner pair of those of the Crustacea.

In considering the insertion of antennæ, by which I mean their articulation with the head, we must advert first to the orifice (Torulus) that receives them[1522]. This is a perforation of the crust of the head; commonly, though not invariably, circular: in Coleopterous insects often with concave lubricous sides, forming an acetabulum, with processes usual in ginglymous articulations, larger than the bulb or root of the antennæ; and which is commonly covered, except the central space occupied by the bulb, with a tense membrane. Though not in general remarkable, in some cases it merits attention. In the genus Rhipicera Latr., the elegant antennæ of whose males I have described in a former letter[1523], particularly the Brazilian species, it is a long process on each side of the nose, and might be mistaken for the first joint: in another Coleopterous genus, Priocera K.[1524], it has somewhat of the shape of a trumpet: in Cupes a tubercle rises just above the base of the antenna: a circular process forms the torulus in Fulgora and others. It is also often placed in a cavity of the front, as in several wild-bees, Melitta K., and in Locusta Leach on the sides of an elevation of that part[1525]. In a large majority of insects the bulb (Bulbus) or ball which is received by the bed, wears the appearance, especially in the Hymenoptera, of a distinct joint; but if you carefully examine it, you will clearly see that it is merely the base of the scape swelled out into a spherical or other kindred form[1526]; and often marked, as in the Cicindelidæ, with impressed points: as it is the piece by which the antenna moves in its socket, this form of a rotula was doubtless given for its more ready motion in all directions. This structure is principally conspicuous in the Coleoptera and Hymenoptera Orders: in the others the base is not so distinguished from the rest of the scape. If you carefully extract the antennæ of a beetle, say a Copris or Lamia, and examine its base or bottom, you will find that it is open for the transmission of muscles and nerves; that in its upper margin it has a deep notch or sinus, on each side of which is a smaller notch; and that all round the margin, which is very lubricous, a membranous ligament is attached, by which it was affixed in the torulus. Its articulation, therefore, seems of a mixed kind, like that of most other organs and parts of insects, partaking of the ligamentous, ginglymous, and ball and socket. In the Orthoptera, Hemiptera, &c. the articulation seems more purely ligamentous.

With regard to their substance—these organs are regulated, in some degree, by the nature of the integument of the animal of which they are appendages; in the softer insects being of a softer substance than they are in hard ones. The vertex of the joints, where they receive the succeeding one, appears in many cases to be softer than the rest of it, and especially towards the apex, often papillose. The antennæ are generally opaque; but in Nebria complanata, a beetle common on the sea-coast in Wales and Lincolnshire, they are semitransparent.

The situation of antennæ must next be considered. In this respect it seems necessary that they should be so situated as to be under the direction of the eyes: for if you examine ten thousand insects (except, as was before observed[1527], where there are four eyes), you will not find one in which these organs are situated either above or immediately behind them; their station being always either somewhere in the space between the eyes or that below them. In Ptinus F. they are placed near the vertex; but in Gibbium, which is so nearly related to that destructive genus[1528], they are beneath them. In many Melittæ K. they are in the middle of the space between the eyes; and in many other Hymenoptera and Coleoptera (Staphylinus &c.), in the anterior part of it. In many Lamellicorn genera (except in some Acridæ, as A. viridissima) as Melolontha, Cetonia, Lucanus, &c. they may be regarded as planted in the lower surface of the cheek before the eyes; but in Copris &c., in which they are inserted further under the shield of the head, they are properly in the prone surface of the front. In the Capricorn-beetles (Cerambyx L.) and Cnodalon F. they may be termed inocular, or placed in a sinus of the eye; in the former tribe in its interior, and in the latter its anterior side. In the Rhynchophorous or rostrum-bearing beetles (Curculio L.) they vary in their situation. Thus in Macrocephalus Oliv. they are inserted at its apex; in Anthribus in its middle, and in Calandra at its base[1529]. In the water-scorpions (Nepa, Belostoma, &c.) they may be called extraocular, being placed under the head in its prone part, outside the eyes[1530]. In Nirmus Fringillæ, a kind of bird-louse, they appear to be oral, being situated, according to De Geer, under the head near the mouth, at a great distance from the eyes[1531].

In their proportions, both as to length and thickness, antennæ vary extremely. Thus sometimes they are very short—much shorter than the head; as in the aquatic beetles Gyrinus, Parnus, and the water-scorpion; and some land-beetles, as Anthrenus, &c. At other times they far exceed the length of the insect: the males of many Capricorn-beetles are so distinguished. In that of Lamia ædilis they are more than four times as long as the body; and every intermediate length between these two may be found amongst them. They vary also greatly in thickness: in Paussus, whose antennæ emit light in the night[1532], and Cerapterus, they are nearly as thick,—at least their knob, which forms the chief part of them,—as the body of the insect[1533]; while in Mantis, Acrida K. and Psocus, they are as slender as a hair. The antennæ in many of the Prioni, especially in P. imbricornis, are thick from base to tip; while in other Capricorn-beetles they are quite the reverse.

It will not be necessary to enlarge here upon the general form of these organs: I shall therefore only notice the two principal divisions of them in this respect.—Antennæ, regard being had to one of their uses, may be divided into two sections, distinguished by forms extremely different: those, namely, that are employed by insects as tactors to explore their way, and those that cannot be so employed. The great majority are of the former kind; but those that may be denominated setigerous,—as the antennæ of the Libellulina, Ephemerina, of the Homopterous Hemiptera, and of many Diptera, the last joint of which terminates in a bristle, or is furnished with a lateral one, and of some gnats that have short feathered antennæ,—appear not fitted to be used as tactors to explore by touch, and form the latter description. This difference in these organs, as I shall have occasion to prove more at large hereafter, furnishes a strong presumption that their primary function is not touch. Were this the case, it would be common to them all.