The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1881-10-05
Jewelry Alive-Beetles as Ornaments.

lnR 3 DOX. OuL Wdlk6u q monster Dee-
lie, fully four inches in length. About
Its body was solid gold band, locked
by a tiny paddock, to which was at
tached costly gold chain, about two
inches in length, fastened to pin. The
beetles back glistened' in light, having
been treated to q dress of gold, and as
it numbered along its long legs worked
together in curious fashion. sits a
You see the pin is used to
fasten lace or a shawl, or perhaps worn
around the length of the chain. They
sive, as they live on air-that Is, they
have never been seen to eat. This one
was brought here to mount, which is a
very fine operation, as the legs and an
tenne are all so delicate. After all,
there is nothing Objectionable about
them, except the idea of having them
crawl over you. They all come from
South America, and the only lot in the
city is to be taken to France, where the
owner will try to introduce the fashion
of wearing them. They cost from ten
to fifty dollars, depending entirely on
the amount of the ring. There Is
nothing cruel about it, as they are
bound loosely, and the gold has no effect
upon their hard Sides"
In Brazil the fashion of wearing bee
ties Is carried to a great extent. A
well-known resident has a beetle with a
collar of gold which meets at the top
and is there ornamented with a dia-
mond of great value. The insect has O
cage, surrounded by the plants among
which it lives in its native state, and
nothing is neglected to make it as COM
Portable as possible. But the most pop
ular insect used for an ornament in
Brazil is small phosphorescent beetle.
These are often worn fastened in the
hair, and as the two phosphorescent or
light-giving spots are on the sides of the
head, the black insect is, of course, in
visible, especially when in the raven
locks of the fair Braziians. Twenty
or thirty of these beetles will
throw out light sufficient to read
by, and when arranged around
the head in a circle, or grouped over
the forehead and held in place, the eff
feet is beautiful.
Several years ago New York lady
gave masquerade ball at her summer
house In Newport. The dancing was
on the lawn, and the guests were re-
quested to be there half an hour before
dark. The hostess wore the costume of
night, and in the daylight her black silk
dress, covered with ivy leaves, did not
attract special attention, but when she
appeared in the gay throng after dark
she presented perfect blaze of light,
and was the center of the admiring and
wondering company. Tremulous waves
of red and yellow flame seemed to move
over her entire dress, while in a cap
hnoI nrIna,,,ad fSor-xy
star. The cause of this illumination
was the phosphorescent light of more
than five thousand firefiies. For weeks
previous to the ball the designer of the
costume had been storing away fireaies,
and on the day of the fete they were
rapidly put on the dress. As the light
giving spot is on the ventral surface,
each one was placed on its back and
held down by fine silver wire, so skill
fully caught that it could not turn over
or escape, and was not injured. The
star was formed of many beetles.
In Jamaica large beetle, the lampy-
ris, is used by ladies. Some of the phos-
phorescent sbeetles used by them give
out lights that have to be seen to be ap-
preciated, and more than twenty differ
ent kinds are used, representing as many
different degrees of light, shade, tint,
etc. One, the pygolampis, has rich
orange color, changing to yellow, flick
ering in intermittent flashes of light
another, called photuris, is curious for
the gradual increase of light it shows
commencing with a faint reddish hue, il
rapidly grows in brilliancy, finally blaz-
ing like torch, rich green light, and
then dying away to reappear again.
They attract other light-giving beetles,
and frequently numbers of lesser lights
are seen fitting around them, combining
red and yellow lights of the greatest
brilliancy. Other uses are made of these
beautiful creatures than as ornaments
Travellers have fastened them to theil
feet and carried them in baskets of wick
er to light their way in the dark
Southey mentions this in the following
lines in his poem, "Madoc:"
She beckoned, and descended, and drew out
From underneath her vest a cage, or net
It rather might be called. so fine the twigs
Which knit 1t, where, confined, two firedie
Their iasser.
Snakes have been used as ornaments
the small, ipoffensive green snakes be
ing the most popular, on account o
their beauty and harmless nature. The,
coil around the arm, clinging on witt
all the tenacity of their golden, bejew
eled imitators that are now so fashiona
BILE. Animals, or parts of them, al
though naturally the adjuncts of bar
baric splendor, are greatly used in tn
makeup of fashionable toilets of tn
present day. Some of the handsomes
sleeve-buttons and studs are made o
| polished fish-skin-sharks or dogfish be
| ing preferred, as they take fine polish
and closely resemble the fossil cora
favosite, that is also used, and whel
highly polished the delicate cells tina
were once the home of the coral poly
are distinctly visible, aud as whole re
sembles honeycomb.
An expensive costume was q cap
made of an extremely rare humming
bird. The whole bird was hardly large
than ones thumb, and on its breast
single patch of gold was found about al
inch in length. The cloak was com
posed wholly of these patches, and i
the sunlight must have We'd with golde
fleece. The birds are valued at fift
dollars each.
| A lady in st. Augustine created sen
sation by appealing in public with
chameleon resting on her head-dress
and held there by delicate silver chain
| The little creature was perfectly tame
and made no attempt to escape; bu
when touched by other than its owne
Its throat puffed up and curious wave
of color passed over the whole body
ranging from deep green to q dar
brown. Small lizards are used i
Egypt by some of the native ladies q
ornaments, and lie half concealed in tn
drapery that overhangs the face. Th
red-clawed soldier-crabs are sometime
used in Mexico as pins. The crab
dislodged from its stolen shell an
given beautiful pearly one, or on
that has been plated with gold or silver
Fastened to the lace by pin and chair
they make unique ornaments.-N. ]
Sun.
"A lady writes to the Detroit Ere
Press that the masculine habit of tryin
to conceal approaching badness is III
| 46r- NF ka cta