known that the seed of the poppy and the oil obtained from it do not possess narcotic properties, and that it was baked into cakes and used as an article of food by the ancients, yet there has been much contention respecting the propriety of using it. In France, about the beginning of the seventeenth century, the opposition to the general use of poppy-oil as an article of food became so violent, that the lieutenant-general of the police of Paris ordered the medical faculty of that city to make the strictest examination concerning this point; and they reported, that as there is nothing narcotic or prejudicial to health in the oil, the use of it might be permitted. But this decision proved to be unsatisfactory; and popular clamour determined the court to pass a decree, in the year 1718, prohibiting the sale of poppy-oil, whether mixed or unmixed. The sale of the article, however, was clandestinely encouraged, and gradually increased until the year 1735, when the court issued a severer decree, enjoining the superintendents to mix a certain quantity of the extract of turpentine with every cask containing eleven hundred pounds weight of this oil, probably with a view to check its supposed injurious effects. In the year just named the consumption of this oil in Paris alone amounted to ten thousand casks; but as the secret demand for it increased every year till 1773, a Society of Agriculture, in the last-named year, undertook to examine all that had been alleged for and against the general use of this oil. Experiments were repeated in the presence of the most distinguished chemists; and the Society presented a petition to the minister of police, setting forth the great advantages that would accrue both to commerce and agriculture by reversing the prohibition. This society again made several experiments in the year 1776, and finally confirmed the decree of the faculty in 1717, declaring that the oil of poppies was not injurious to health; that it did not contain a narcotic power, and that it might be recommended to general use with the utmost safety. From that time the cultivation of the poppy has not met with any formidable opposition, and has increased to such a degree both in France and in the Netherlands, that great quantities have been exported thence, independent of the quantity retained for home use; and in seasons of scarcity it has been found of the most essential service in all cases where the use of oil was required. In the northern parts of France it was used by soapboilers as a substitute for other oils, which were extremely dear; and in some part of the Netherlands the oil-cakes are used as fattening food for cattle. Mr. Young observes:-"It is well known that mawseed, obtained from a variety of the poppy, has long been used in this country for feeding birds. I have a canary that has been fed upon white poppy-seeds for many months; and I supplied a person with this seed who breeds canary-birds for sale; he gives them nothing else to eat, and observes that they thrive as well as when fed upon common seed. According to Dr. Alston, the poppy-seed is used as food in some places, as well as the expressed oil, which he says is as innocent and wholesome as olive-oil. And Mr. Kerr relates that the seeds of the poppy are sold in the market and are reckoned delicious eating; they are used in emulsions, and enter into the cooling prescriptions of the Hindostan physicians. This is corroborated by Mr. A. W. Davis. According to him, the seeds are valuable for the oil they contain; and as an article of food are in great request with the natives; and when used in this way the oil is scarcely to be distinguished from olive-oil, which is often adulterated with it. I have seen large quantities of poppy-seed exposed for sale in the bazaar of Calcutta. We are told, by Mr. C. A. Fisher, in his Letters written during a Journey to Montpellier in the year 1804,' that the oil of Provence, which on account of its purity, mildness, and fine flavour is celebrated all over Europe, is exported to Italy in large quantities, and was formerly exported to many distant countries; but since the hard winters of 1789 and the following years, so many olive-trees have been frozen, and during the Revolution so few planted, that Aix (which was the principal seat of its traffic) has now entirely lost its first and most lucrative branch of commerce." These circumstances have greatly tended to increase the use of poppy-oil. The mode of culture and preparation of the poppy depends on the purpose to which it is to be applied, or the part of the plant which is to be brought to use. The opium is a milky juice obtained by incision; the oil is expressed from the seeds contained in the capsule; while the capsule itself-the globular shell to which the name of " poppy-head" is frequently applied-is extensively used in medicine. The routine of proceedings in the province of Bahar in India, where opium is the chief product required, has been thus described:-The field being well prepared by the plough and harrow, and reduced to an exact level superficies, is then divided into quadrangular areas of seven feet long and five feet in breadth, leaving two feet of interval, which is raised five or six inches, and excavated into an aqueduct for conveying water into every area; for which purpose there is a well prepared in every cultivated field. The seeds are sown in October or November. The plants are allowed to grow six or eight inches distant from each other, and are plentifully supplied with water. When the young plants are six or eight inches high, they are watered more sparingly; but the cultivator strews all over the areas a nutrient compost of ashes, dung, and nitrous earth scraped from the highways and from old mud walls. When the plants are on the point of flowering, they are watered profusely, to increase the juice. When the capsules are half grown, no more water is given. The cultivators then begin to collect the opium in the following manner-At sunset they make two longitudinal double incisions upon each half-ripe capsule, passing from below upwards, taking care not to penetrate into the interior cavity of the capsule. The incisions are repeated every evening, until each capsule has received six or eight wounds and after each incision the dews of the succeeding night facilitate the exudation of the juice. Care and selection are required in these operations; for if the capsule be allowed to ripen too much, it will yield hardly any juice; and if the incision were made in the heat of the day, the exudation would not occur in a proper manner. Early in each morning after an incision has been made, old women, boys, and girls collect the juice by scraping it off the wounds with a small iron scoop, and deposit the whole in an earthen pot, where it is worked by the hand in open sunshine, until it acquires a thicker consistence. It is then formed into cakes of a globular shape, about four pounds in weight, and laid in little earthen basins to be further dried, the cakes being covered over either with tobacco leaves or with the leaves of the poppy; and there they are kept till dry. These masses then constitute the opium of commerce. The Indian opium is, as here described, sold in roundish masses, covered by leaves; while the Turkish opium is in flatter pieces, also covered by leaves. Such is the general mode of cultivating the poppy in India, where the opium, or inspissated juice of the capsule, is the chief object held in view. Where the cultivation of this plant, as in Europe, is directed more to the production of seeds for oil than to that of opium, the arrangements, as described by Mr. Young, are nearly as follows: 48 Mr. Young states that he made an experiment to determine which is the best mode of sowing the seed. He adopted three different modes: in the first of which he sowed broad-cast, upon beds three feet wide, with an alley between, and thinned out to the distance of four or five inches; in the second instance he sowed in beds three feet wide, in rows-six rows to a bed, and six inches between the plants; in the third instance he sowed on the spaces between rows of early potatoes, four feet wide, with two rows of poppies in each space, twelve inches between the rows of poppies, eight inches between the poppy plants, and three feet between each double row of poppies, occupied by one row of early potatoes. In the first method the seed produced only one capsule; in the second, two; and in the last, from three to seven or eight. On this point he observes:-"The seed of the poppy comes to maturity after the extraction of the opium; and when it is considered that it yields more than a third part of its weight of oil, and that a crop of early potatoes equal to thirty-six bolls per acre can be raised by the same culture on the same space of ground, with a crop of opium equal to fifty-six pounds, there is scarcely any plan that can be devised which would prove equally profitable to the cultivator, or more beneficial to the community. One acre of poppies cultivated in wide drills will produce in a good season one thousand pounds of seed, which will give by expression three hundred and seventy-five pounds of oil.” After the opium harvest is over, the seeds are ready This is done for gathering about the end of August. by drawing the entire plants out of the ground, binding a sufficient number together, and placing them against each other in the manner of corn-sheaves, letting the whole remain in the fields a few days until perfectly dry. The sheaves are then laid upon a large cloth, the capsules bruised, and the seeds taken out; after which the seeds are passed through a sieve. As soon after the collection of the seed as may be convenient, the oil is extracted from them; for if this be long delayed the oil yielded is smaller in quantity, inferior in quality, and badly coloured. The mill, the press, and the bags are all used perfectly clean. The first oil is destined for the use of families, and this is 'cold-drawn,' as any degree of warmth injures the flavour. After as much is extracted in this manner as possible, a considerable quantity of inferior quality is obtained by heating the cakes and pressing them a second time. The oil which is first procured is of a pale colour, is peculiarly bland and soft, and has a flavour approaching that of almond-oil. It is used for salads and other domestic purposes, either alone or mixed with olive-oil. When olive-oil is stale or rancid, it may be considerably improved by admixture with recently made poppy-oil. The cold-drawn oil, for domestic use, is allowed to remain five or six weeks before being used, that it may deposit in a sediment a kind of milky substance that is mixed with it. It is then poured into another vessel, and left partially exposed to the air for a time. The second-drawn oil is of a deeper colour, and is applicable to all the purposes of the more common oils, artists using the finer sorts of it as a drying oil. It preserves the colour of some kinds of paint better than the other oils, and is free from their disagreeable smell. Holland was supplied with this oil for a considerable time from France, and it was sold there under the name of olive-oil, or mixed with it in considerable abundance. About the year 1799 it was stated that the poppy was cultivated in Holland solely for its oil and oil-cake, which yielded a profit of about 81. sterling per acre, after paying expenses, the oil selling at from five to six shillings per gallon. The medicinal uses of the plant are very numerous. The capsules, or poppy-heads, are frequently used to form an extract, and a decoction which is employed as a fomentation. The syrup of poppies is a medicine very much employed; and there are many others, such as Godfrey's Cordial and soothing' medicines, whose chief object is to lull the sense of pain, in which the narcotic principle of the plant is brought into action. But the mode in which medicines of this kind are often made and used has been proved to be very mischievous, sufficient care not being observed in apportioning the strength of the medicine to the strength of the patient. For this reason, among others, it is rather a dangerous domestic' medicine in any of its forms, since it requires the skill of an experienced person to determine when and how it may be safely used. Rapid Manufacture of Honey.-How much honey a swarm of bees will gain in a day, depends on the largeness of the swarm, and goodness of the weather. If the swarm be very large, and the weather very good, and they are no way disturbed by breaking down the ladders, they will gain twenty-eight pounds in fourteen days, or little more. My father once had a swarm of bees, which had stood only seven days, and being desirous of knowing how much they had gained, in heaving them up he broke down all their works. To prevent the honey from being lost, he took the comb, honey, and bees together into a brass pan. After straining it off, besides what was lost, he had fourteen pounds of clear maiden honey.-Cotton's Bee-Book. Machine at Tresavean Mine (Cornwall).-This is a machine for facilitating the ascent and descent of miners, by which four hundred and ninety persons are daily relieved from the arduous labour of going by ladders to the depth of 290 fathoms, or 1740 feet, and of ascending by the same means: after eight hours of severe muscular exertion underground, every one must feel the importance of this ingenious application of mechanical and steam powers. The engine employed is of thirty-six inches cylinder, double acting, six feet stroke, equal beam. The outer end of the beam is connected by a sweep-rod and crank to a shaft on which are fixed two small pinion wheels, which drive two others of five times their diameter; thus the engine makes five strokes to one revolution of the large wheels. In one of the arms of each of the larger wheels, at a distance of six feet from the centre, is a pin, to which a rod is connected; each rod consequently makes a stroke of twelve feet at every revolution of the wheel. These rods, which are of Norway wood, eight inches square, are continued to the depth above stated, and to these are attached platforms quite large enough for one person to stand on, at every six feet. Four feet above each platform there is a handle, consisting of a round bar of iron three-quarters of an inch in diameter, and two feet long, fixed vertically in the rod, which is laid hold of by the person on his stepping from one platform to another, and by holding it he maintains his footing on the platform when the rods are in motion with perfect ease and safety. A man takes his stand on one of these platforms, and is at once lowered or raised, as the case may be, twelve feet, when he steps to the platform on the other rod, and immediately is carried over another equal space. The speed of the engine is fifteen strokes per minute, by which each rod makes three strokes, or travels thirty-six feet. The rate of descending and ascending is therefore seventytwo feet in the minute. The time spent by the miner in climbing from the depth of 1740 feet was upwards of an hour; now, without any more fatigue than he would have in making about one hundred and forty steps upon level ground, he is brought to the surface in twenty-four minutes, or carried to an equal depth. This machine was erected by Mr. Michael Loam, a Cornish engineer; but the miners are principally indebted for it to the benevolent exertions of a few individuals, who, in the most noble manner, offered, through one of the county institutions, a premium of 500l. to the first mine which should adopt some plan for relieving the miners from climbing. From one hundred and thirty to one hundred and forty men can descend, and the same number ascend, at the same time. The principal agent at the mine assures us, that not only has the health of the men been visibly improved since the introduction of the machine, but they have cheerfully completed one-fifth more work without an increase of wages.—Great Western (Bristol) Advertiser. [1, Papilio Machaon; 2, Apatura Iris; 3, Hipparchia Megara; 4, Vanessa Polychloros; 5, Vanessa Urtica; 6, Vanessa Atalanta; 7, Vanessa Io.] CURIOSITIES OF BRITISH NATURAL HISTORY. BUTTERFLIES.-No. II. IN our previous notice of the present group of insects we ventured upon a few observations relative to their caterpillar condition, and the changes through which they pass in their progress from the egg to a state of maturity. We may not unappropriately follow out the subject by adverting to some points of interest in the organization of the perfect butterfly. We need scarcely say that, according to the nature of their food, the structure of the mouth is expressly modified. No one can fail to observe the great difference between the mouth of the Beetle and the Butterfly: in the former the mouth is mandibulate, that is, formed for gnawing and seizing; in the latter it is haustellate, converted into a proboscis for suction. Yet in both, it would appear that the same constituent parts exist, varied as they may be in shape and use. In order to render the subject clear, let us first explain the parts of a mandibulate mouth, which, as we No. 761. have observed, is formed for mastication and seizing. It consists of a labrum, or upper lip; a labium, or under lip; two mandibles, or jaws; two maxillae, or under jaws; and a tongue. To the maxillæ, or under jaws, are attached a pair of feelers called maxillary palpi; and a similar are also attached to the labium, or under lip, and called labial palpi. Each of the parts enumerated requires further explanation. The labrum, or upper lip, is usually a movable organ terminating the face, so to speak, anteriorly, and its use appears to be to keep the food in its proper place during the action of the mandibles upon it. The labium, or lower lip, is opposed to the upper lip and serves a similar purpose; acting conjointly with it. The labial palpi have usually two joints, exclusive of their basal attachment, and therefore consist of three portions, like the finger; they serve as feelers of the food. Between the upper and under lip are the two pairs of jaws, acting horizon tally; namely, the mandibles and maxillæ. The upper, or mandibles, are used for manducation. When viewed from above or beneath, they generally present a figure more or less approaching to a triangle, but are exter VOL. XIII.-H nally convex, internally concave, the concave surface being mostly furnished with serrated processes or teeth. Let our reader examine the mouth of one of the beetle race, while reading these details. As insects with the jaws formed on the principle described vary in their food, so do these upper jaws vary in their details, as do the teeth of quadrupeds. In some (the Cerambicidæ, Tenebrio, &c.) which gnaw vegetable food, there is something in the form of the upper jaws analogous to the incisor teeth of Rodents, as the hare. In carnivorous insects, as Cicindela, Carabus, Staphilinus, the upper jaws remind us of the formidable canines of the tiger, or the sharp beak of the falcon, and are often armed with acute serrations or an array of spear-like points. In some which feed upon hard vegetable matter the upper jaws are stout, short, and strong, and have a lobe at or near their base, and a broad crushing or grinding surface, reminding us of the molar teeth of the Ruminant or Pachydermatous orders of quadrupeds. In some insects the mandibles are destitute of teeth; in these cases, if the mandibles be long and sharp, the insect feeds upon soft animal substances, as worms; but sometimes this sort of jaw is furnished with a minute orifice near the apex, and in this case the insect pierces its prey, and sucks the juices through a tube perforating the mandible itself. Another modification is seen in the upper jaws of the stag-beetle (Lucanus Cervus). The jaws are immense, and resemble the antlers of the stag. As this beetle is not carnivorous (as might be presumed from such a structure), and as the jaws are equally unfitted for the mastication of vegetable matter, the question arisesto what are they adapted? It has been suggested to us by a naturalist who has studied the habits of this species, that these mandibles are used for piercing and lacerating leaves and twigs, thereby causing a flow of sap, upon which the beetle habitually feeds. We next come to the under jaws, or maxillæ, which are placed beneath the mandibles, and move nearly parallel to them. Exclusive of the maxillary palpus, or feeler, they consist each of an upper lobe composed of two or three joints, and a lower lobe or division, the true under jaw, which is generally sharp, somewhat resembling the mandible, but furnished with numerous spires or bristles on its internal aspect. These parts vary greatly in different groups; but the maxillary palpus is seldom wanting. The upper lobe, or section between the palpus and the true under jaw, is frequently absent or rudimentary. The under jaws appear to be used principally for turning the food about while the mandibles are at work upon it. The tongue (lingua) is situated within the labium, or under lip, and sometimes emerges from it; in many cases it constitutes an organ for collecting food, which it transmits to the gullet. In these instances it is peculiarly modified and developed. most minute barbs (like those along the plumelets of of a feather), they form an intermediate tube of a square shape. Thus, then, we have three tubes, the central leading to the gullet. This curious proboscis when not in use is coiled up and concealed; but it can be unfolded, and inserted into the nectary of the flowers, the liquid honey contained therein being imbibed through the central tube, which, as we have said, leads to the gullet, or commencement of the esophagus. As the butterfly cannot exhaust the air in this central tube, as animals breathing through their lungs would exhaust a pipe continued from the mouth, and so suck up liquid, we must necessarily suppose the operation in the case of the butterfly to be performed in a very different way; and it cannot be doubted that the lateral tubes, by the action of the spiral fibres surrounding them, have the power of producing a vacuum in the middle passage, so as to effect the rise of the nectar. How These filamentous maxillæ are developed at the expense of the other parts of the mouth, which, though minute and undeveloped, may nevertheless be demonstrated. These are, more or less rudimentary, mandibles, a labrum, a labium, and labial and maxillary palpi; the latter indeed are large, and easily distinguishable, in the form of two plumose appendages, one on each side of the base of the proboscis. different the leaf-cutting mouth of the voracious caterpillar from the nectar-sucking proboscis of the brightwinged butterfly. The one, like the phytophagous beetle, is furnished with hard horny jaws, formed for crushing the substance of plants and herbage; in the other, by a marvellous change, we find a slender, tubular, elongated proboscis, fitted only for robbing the flowers of their honeyed treasures. From these preliminary remarks, we pass to the species figured at the head of this article. 1. The Swallow-tail Butterfly (Papilio Machaon). This beautiful species, though by no means so rare as its ally the P. Podalirius (which indeed can scarcely be called a British butterfly), is yet by no means generally abundant. It has never been observed in Scotland, and seldom in the northern counties of England. In Cambridgeshire it is stated to be tolerably common within the fenny districts, and it has been observed in Sussex, Essex, Hampshire, Middlesex, and Kent. On the Continent it is not unfrequent, and is abundant in Syria and Egypt, as well as in several parts of France, Italy, &c. It does not appear on the wing in our island till the beginning of June. We believe that it has not hitherto been noticed in Ireland. Of all our indigenous butterflies this is the largest ; the female, which, as usual, exceeds the male in size, not unfrequently measuring three inches and a half in expanse of wings. Its flight is powerful. The general colour of the wings is black, powdered with yellow, and relieved by bold yellow markings, which colour So far have we described a mandibulate mouth, as indeed is spread over the basal half of the hinder wings. we find it in beetles; but let us turn to the haustellate From the posterior margin of these projects an acute mouth of the butterfly, and great will be our astonish-slip, which may be compared to the outer tail-feathers ment at the difference. In this reveller among flowers, the honey of which it sucks from the nectary, the maxillæ, or lower jaws, are most wonderfully modified-they are no longer hard pincers, but form slender elongated tubes, and together constitute a long slender proboscis, resembling the fine tendril of a vine. Each maxilla is lengthened into a long annulated cartilaginous filament, governed by two layers of spiral muscular fibres, and is moreover hollowed longitudinally. The sides which oppose each other are channelled like a split reed, so that when the edges of each tubular filament are put together, and interlocked by incans of a multitude of | of the swallow, and at each inner corner is an ocel- The Great Tortoiseshell Butterfly is closely related to the Small Tortoiseshell (V. Urtica), one of the most common of our British species, and of which the caterpillar, of a blackish colour, with yellow stripes, is found in abundance on the nettle. It is only in the oak-woods of the more southern | very young, in the branches of various trees, as the counties of our island that this splendid butterfly ap- willow, elm, and cherry, for their protection, but dispears, and that not in abundance; it has been styled perse after they have once or twice changed their "the purple emperor of the British oak ;" and if skin. beauty, strength of wing, fearlessness, and a lofty, bold, and vigorous flight entitle it to pre-eminence, it certainly stands at the head of our native butterflies. It seldom makes its appearance before the month of July, and may then be seen during the middle of the day, while the sun glows with meridian effulgence, 5. The Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly (Vanessa Ursoaring on rapid wings high over the summits of the tica). A description of this butterfly, to which we have tallest oaks, on the topmost twigs of which it settles just alluded, and which is so common and so well for repose towards the approach of evening. No known, is scarcely necessary. It is abundant not only species of butterfly is captured with so much difficulty in England, but on the adjoining continent, and is con(a net at the end of a rod thirty feet long being neces- spicuous for its beauty and the lightness with which sary for the chase), unless indeed it should chance to it flits from flower to flower. Two broods occur every settle on the ground, when it permits the closest ap- year-one early in spring, the other in autumn. It proach. This, however, is a rare occurrence; on the closely resembles the preceding species, but is much contrary, it often mounts beyond the power of eye- smaller, and has the base of the hinder wings black. sight. This account refers more 'particularly to the Every nettle-bed abounds with its caterpillars, which males, for the females are far more rarely seen on the are spiny. wing, but keep to the tops of the oaks, and consequently are far less frequently captured than the other sex. The wings of this species are firm in texture; their general colour above is dark brown, changing in certain lights into rich purplish blue of metallic lustre, and relieved by marks of white. On the hinder wings near the inner angle is a small black spot surrounded by red; under surface of wings rust brown, varied with white and black; an ocellated spot on both. The caterpillar is pale green, with horns reddish at the tip. It feeds on the oak, willow, and ash. 3. The Orange Argus, or Wall Butterfly (Hipparchia Megæra). In Italy this butterfly continues on the wing during the winter, in fine weather; and in our island numbers, as it would appear, pass that scason in a torpid condition, issuing from their retreats in February or March, when the sun breaks forth cheerfully, soon perhaps to be be-clouded. Hence the expression of Linnæus respecting this species-" fallax veris indicium" (a deceitful harbinger of spring). 6. The Red Admiral (Vanessa Atalanta). Beautiful is this butterfly, with its velvet-black wings broadly banded with red, and relieved by white and blue. In all parts of our island it is very common, as well as over Europe, and the districts of Africa bordering the Mediterranean it is also found in the United States of America. This insect, says the clever writer of the This butterfly is by no means uncommon, and is very generally spread, appearing from May to August;Journal of a Naturalist,' rarely "appears until late it fits lightly and rapidly from one resting-place to another, expanding its wings to the sun. The fore-wings are orange-yellow, inclining to brown, marbled and banded along the edges with dark brown. Near the outer angle an ocellated spot of white with a black ring. Hinder wings with a row of spots, from three to five in number, in a crescentic line near the outer margin; the edge banded with brown. The caterpillar is hairy, of a light green, a whitish line running along each side. in September, and then so fresh and perfect in its plumage as to manifest its recent production from the chrysalis. In some years they abound, and one may see twenty of these beautiful creatures expanding and closing their brilliant wings under the fruit-trees on our walls, or basking on the disc of some autumnal flower." Many of our butterflies are produced by successive batches supplying the places of those which have been destroyed, and here it is difficult to mark the duration of an individual; others, as the Nettle, 66 4. The Great Tortoiseshell Butterfly (Vanessa poly-Peacock, and Wood-Tortoise, in many instances survive chloros). It is principally in the southern counties of our island that this butterfly makes its appearance, and usually about the middle of July. On the Continent it is common, more particularly in the more southern districts. It is rapid on the wing, and often settles on dry pathways and the trunks of trees, delighting in the fervent rays of the sun. The wings are angulated, and often measure upwards of two inches and a half in extent; their colour above is dark orange-red, with a narrow vandyked edging of blue, and a second of black; the fore-wings are marked anteriorly with abbreviated bands of black, and spots of the same colour about the centre; the hinder wings have a large spot of black near the middle of the anterior margin. On the under side the basal half of the wings is dark brown, the remainder yellowish grey finely marked with undulating lines of brown, and an obscure row of bluish crescents towards the tip. On the anterior wings three pale spots are observable near the fore-margin, and one near the middle of the hinder pair. The caterpillar of this species is gregarious, spiny, and of a brownish tint, with a lateral stripe of orange; the spines are slightly branched and yellowish. Collected in groups, the caterpillars weave webs, while the winter hidden in some recess or sheltered apartment, appearing in spring-time worn and shabby. But V. Atalanta appears only in the autumn, not as a preserved creature, but as a recent production; and hence we can ascertain the duration of its life to be comprised only within the period of September to the end of October; by which time its food in our gardens has disappeared. Some sheltered wall garnished with the bloom of ivy may prolong its existence a little longer, but the cold and dampness of the season soon destroy it, and hence is the life of this creature, the most beautiful of our lepidopterous tribes, of very brief duration. The caterpillar of the red admiral (or Admirable of some writers) is solitary, spinous, and greenish, with a lateral line of yellow spots. It feeds on the nettle, and draws the leaf close round it to protect it both from the weather and the ichneumon fly: when the leaf is exhausted, it changes its skin, shifts to another, and webs that together as before. When it has grown so large that one leaf will not cover and feed it, it creeps to the top of the nettle, webbing up the leaves, within which it lies feeding till the time for assuming the chrysalis state draws nigh. In August it fastens itself by the tail within the web under the nettle-tops, changes to a chrysalis, and in fourteen days emerges a perfect |