Scientific American Supplement, No. 508, September 26, 1885 by Various
page 30 of 137 (21%)
page 30 of 137 (21%)
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the long spiral tongue.
This is a curious structure, and one that will repay the trouble of microscopic examination. In the figure the profile is seen, the large compound eye at the side and the long curved tongue, so elephantine-looking in form, though of minute size, is seen unrolled as it is when about to be inserted into flowers to pump up the honey-juice. This little piece of insect apparatus is a mass of muscles and sensitive nerves comprising a machine of greater complexity and of no less precision in its action than the modern printing machine. When not in use, the tongue rolls into a spiral and disappears under the head. A butterfly's tongue may readily be unrolled by carefully inserting a pin within the first spiral and gently drawing it out.--_The Gardeners' Chronicle._ * * * * * THE BHOTAN CYPRESS. (CUPRESSUS TORULOSA.) This cypress, apart from its elegant growth, is interesting as being the only species of Cupressus indigenous to India. It is a native of the Himalayas in the Bhotan district, and it also occurs on the borders of Chinese Tartary. It forms, therefore, a connecting link, as it were, between the true cypresses of the extreme east and those that |
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