Punch (9.1845)

PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.

READINGS IN NATURAL HISTORY.

THE BUTTERFLY.

"The life of a butterfly," says Btjffom, "seems one continued suc-
cession of changes ; and it throws off one skin only to assume another."
The butterfly, then, is constantly peeling, and the Peel butterfly is the
greatest type of the species.

The little insect to which we allude commences existence as a mono-
polist caterpillar, which has little holes in its side, called stigmata ; and
certainly for every hole that has been picked in the Peel caterpillar, a
certain stigma attaches to him. From the crawling state of caterpil-
larism, the Peel insect became a grub, and contrived to grub on tolerably
well for a considerable period. While in the caterpillar state, the Peel
butterfly's motions were in accordance with a sort of slidiug-scale ; but its
transition into the condition of the grub brought somewhat of a tendency
to a fixed duty. At length the Peel butterfly, bursting from all restric-

tions, is found upon the wing, and supports itself, somehow or other, for a
long while, although, as Buffon says, " its flight is not very graceful."

To make a quotation from the same eminent naturalist when speaking
of the common butterfly, it may be said of the Peel butterfly, that
" when it designs to fly to a considerable distance, it ascends and descends
alternately, going sometimes to the right, sometimes to the left , without
any apparent reason." The Peel butterfly, like most other flying
creatures, has instruments that are called feelers, and before making a
move, these feelers are generally put forth by the crafty creature. The
colours of the Peel butterfly are very variable ; and it is a remarkable
fact, that the insect will ofteu prey upon the weaker of its own kind, which
has been often the case with the particular insect we have been specially
alluding to.

PUNCH'S POLITICAL DICTIONARY.

Barrister. Barristers are made by eating twelve dinners ; and,
hence, we find that, in other professions, the students require cram-
ming before they can pass their examinations. Plowden quaintly
tells us that only deserving men are called to the bar, and that after
twelve dinners, their desert naturally follows. Barristers are
divided into Serjeants, who wear a piece of sticking-plaster in the
middle of their wigs, as if their skulls had all been cracked ; Queen's
Counsel, who wear silk gowns; and the utters, or outers, or, as some
say, the out-and-outers, who wear stuff which is sometimes charac-
teristic of their speeches. We hear of the degree of Barrister, which
degree is, for the most part, positive.

Barter. The exchange of one commodity for another, as when
a statesman barters his character for his place, a frequent case in
politics. The Italian word barattere means to cheat as well as to
barter, and we have selected an illustration which embraces both
meanings, for if a politician exchanges his character, which is worth
nothing, for place, which is a source of profit, he certainly cheats as
well as barters.' The Indian tribes, and other unsophisticated folks,
have been greatly victimised by bartering with the Europeans, who
give them bits of old iron and other rubbish for some of the richest
Eastern treasures. The Native Chief Timbaroo is believed to have
bartered away a quantity of diamonds for a few tenpenny nails, a
soda-water bottle, and an old pair of boot-hooks.

Bath, Knights of the, were so called, from the custom of taking
a bath before installation ; a custom still observed in our prisons,
where every one not only takes a bath, but has his hair cut, previous
to his being regularly installed upon the treadmill. Fabyan says
that Henry the FirTH, in 1416, on taking Caen, "dubbed" several

Knights of the Bath, who were of course all previously washed ; and
there can be no doubt that the old distich—

" Rub a dub dub,
Six men in a tub,"

originated with the custom of putting the knights into a tub, and
giving them a good rub before dubbing them.
This mark of honour ceased from the time of *C^~^^?\
Char i.es the Second, and the mark had become i^^^^^fe^v^>J
completely washed out, when it was revived in ^gjf^
1725 by George the First, who made 6ix-and- xr
thirty Knights of the Bath, as well as ordered fjfc'^p \
their costume, which was to consist of a sort of A mjU .'Jk.
white satin wrap-rascal, no trowsers at all, white ^Sffif? ,
kid boots, and an infant's hat and feathers. Each
knight was allowed three esquires, who probably %i\ \\
all kept gigs ; for keeping a gig was formerly a
mark of so much respectability as would war-
rant a person in tacking "Esquire" on to the end of his appel-
lation.

In 1815 the Prince Regent completely overfiooded the Bath
I by making three classes of them, like the Railway carriages, and
which three classes served to swell the special train that followed
him at his coronation. His Royal Highness put a great many into
that line, and, to follow up the Railway analogy, he granted an ex-
tension to India by knighting fifteen of the best officers in the
service of the East India Company. They took up their shares in
the dignity, paid their deposits in the shape of fees, and met all
future calls that their country made upon them.