should in vain look for in any
other class of creatures. We need not speak of simple colours; these
occur in profusion, of all hues, of all shades of intensity, and of the
very highest degrees of brightness; combined too, in the most elegant
manner, and very frequently, particularly in the _Lepidoptera_,
presenting that peculiar charm which results from the association of
tints that are complemental to each other.

Words are always felt to be too poor to describe the refulgence of the
hues of many of the feathered tribes;--the metallic gloss of the Trogons
and the oriental _Gallinaceae_, the gem-like flashings of the
Humming-birds and the Birds of Paradise. Perhaps it would be deemed
extravagant to assert, that these glories can be _excelled_ by the tiny
races I am now discussing; but equalled, _most fully equalled_, they
assuredly are. To possess the glow of burnished metal upon the most
varied hues, is, in the order _Coleoptera_, a common thing. Most of the
_Eumolpidae_ are remarkable for this; of which I may instance _Chrysochus
fulgidus_, a beetle from Bombay. The _Buprestidae_ have long been
celebrated, for the same reason; and portions of their bodies have been
used in the toilet of ladies, in association with diamonds and rubies.

Many of the _Chlamydae_ blaze with golden-crimson, purple, and the most
fiery orange. The species of the small genus _Eurhinus_ seem to send
forth the coloured flames of the pyrotechnic art. The _Longicornes_
display the same beauties, associated with gigantic size. _Cheloderus
Childreni_, for example, a large beetle from Columbia, is equal to any
_Buprestis_ for the radiance of the green, crimson, purple, blue,
scarlet, and gold, that are all at the same time flaming from its
singularly-sculptured surface.

But there are impressions conveyed by the reflection of light from the
bodies of many beetles, which far exceed the metallic fulgor of which I
have been speaking, beautiful as it is. I cannot hope to describe them
intelligibly; I know of no combination of words which will give an idea
of them. I mean the soft, almost velvety radiance of some of the
_Goliathi_; of many of the _Cetoniae_, as the genus _Eudicella_, for
instance; and of not a few of the _Phanaei_, in the former two, the hue
is generally green; in the latter, this colour is associated with other
hues, most glowing, yet of an indescribable softness. I cannot imagine
anything of this sort more charming than the soft gold