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INTRODUCTION.
But O! what terms expressive may relate
The change, the splendour of their new-formed state!
Their texture, nor composed of filmy skin,
Of cumbrous flesh without, or bone within,
But something than corporeal more refined,
And agile as their blithe informing mind.
In every eye ten thousand brilliants blaze,
And living pearls the vast horizon gaze;
Gemmed o'er their heads the mines of India gleam,
And heaven's own wardrobe has arrayed their frame:
Each spangled back bright sprinkled specks adorn,
Each plume imbibes the rosy tinctured morn,
Spread on each wing the florid seasons glow,
Shaded and verged with the celestial bow:
Where colours blend an ever varying dye,
And wanton in their gay exchanges vie.
Having already discussed the general history of butterflies at considerable length, in a volume devoted to the illustration of the kinds found in Britain, it is not our intention to resume the subject in this place, further than to make a few remarks on certain peculiarities presented by many foreign species, a selection from which forms the subject of the present volume.
