in some butterflies a number of small
projections, of the form shown at fig. 10, Plate II., which is a highly
magnified figure of the end of the Red Admiral's proboscis. These
appendages are generally supposed to be organs of taste, {27} and to aid in
the discrimination of food when the pipe is unrolled and thrust down deep
into the nectary of a flower.

The _compound eye_ of a butterfly, wonderful as its structure is, does not
greatly differ from that of many other insects, being like them composed of
an immense number of little lenses set together to form a hemisphere large
in comparison with the insect's head. A portion of one of these eyes forms
a pretty and interesting object for the microscope, presenting a honey-comb
appearance, the hexagonal lines that mark the division of the lenses being
most beautifully geometrical and regular in their arrangement. More than
seventeen hundred of these lenses have been counted in a single eye, and
each of these is considered to possess the qualities of a complete and
independent eye. If this be true, the butterfly may be said to be endowed
with at least thirty-four thousand eyes!

There exist also, as in other insects, _two simple_ eyes, placed on the top
of the head, but so buried in down and scales as to be neither visible, nor
useful for vision as far as we can perceive; probably the creature finds
that his allowance of thirty-four thousand windows to his soul lets in as
much light as he requires.

Every one looking at a butterfly must have remarked its long horns, called
_antennae_,[4] which project from above the eyes, like jointed threads,
thickening--in some {28} species gradually, in others suddenly--into a club
or knob at the extremity; a peculiarity which, it will be remembered, was
pointed out at the commencement, as a prominent mark of distinction between
butterflies and moths.

Very graceful appendages are these waving _antennae_, and evidently of high
importance to their owner; but still, their exact office or function is
unknown, notwithstanding that many guesses and experiments have been made
with a view of settling that question.

Investigators have perhaps erred, by assuming at the outset that these
antennae _must_ be organs of some sense that we ourselves possess; whereas,
I think that there is much evidence to show that insects are gifted with a
certain subtle sense, for which we have no name, and of which we can have
as little real idea, as we could ha