The subject of Entomology, or the history of insects, is less understood in this country than that of any other department of natural science. This arises, perhaps, either from the circumstance that the knowledge of in sects is obtained at a great expense of patient industry and acute discrimination, or from a want of taste, arising from a want of information in this most interesting department of animated nature. It is true that few studies demand a more untiring devotion than that of entomology; and it is also true that there is little in it which can be turned to a cash account; reasons sufficiently powerful to induce many individuals to keep at a respectful distance, and perhaps, as is usual in such cases, to put on their contempt to hide their ignorance.

The wonders of creative wisdom are no where more strikingly displayed than in the insect tribes. Every part of matter amidst which we live and move, swarms with myriads of beings, countless and various as the leaves of the forest, assuming every colour that beauty could suggest, every form that the imagination can con ceive, and, in perfection of powers and adaptation of parts to the circumstances of their existence, equalled by no other part of the animal kingdom. Numerous and various as they are, minute as are their bodies, and transitory as is their existence, they are nevertheless bound by certain laws of their natures, which are readily perceived and explained. With no part of this living world are we more intimately connected than with the subjects of entomology. Some, as the bee and silkworm, administer to our wants and enjoyments; others, whose design is less obvious to us, answer undoubtedly equally important purposes in the great economy of nature. The happy myriads that gambol in a summer's

sun; the worm that gnaws at the root of our vegetable, that strips our fruit trees of their leafy glories, or that spins our costly garments; the blights of spring, and the locusts of autumn, spreading dismay and famine; and the coral insect, building its habitation mountain high from the fathomless depths of the ocean, to become the destruction of commerce, or the foundations of islands rich in oriental productions, are all objects of interest to a contemplative mind.

Some of the general facts connected with this subject, and which will always be found useful and interesting, are such as relate to the origin and formation of insects; that most of them are oviparous, but some are both oviparous and viviparous-that they pass through several stages of being, assuming different forms and subsisting upon different kinds of food that their structure and organization is peculiar to themselvestheir mode of respiration differing from other creatures, the air being admitted to a complicated circulation through the system by means of spiracles and tubes on various parts of the body, but never on the head-no insect breathing through the mouth,-and consequently they produce all their various sounds by their wings, legs, and other parts of the body. The changes which most insects undergo in their transformation from the vile worm to the gay wanderer from flower to flower are curious in the extreme. At first, we behold an atom, which on being exposed to the genial warmth bursts its shell and exhibits the feeble insect, capable of procuring its own food, amidst which, by the instinct of its mother, it has been placed. In its larva state, it repeatedly casts its skin, until, arrived at its full growth, it ceases to eat, selects some place secure from danger,

spins itself a shroud, and, in a temporary death, a vivid emblem of mortality, awaits its final consummation of being, when it emerges from its tomb, and, changed in every organ, feature, and capacity, rises into a higher state of existence, to fulfil the important purposes of its creation.

No subject is more fruitful of moral instruction than this:

"Who can observe the bee and ant,

And not provide for future want?"

The admonitions to duty and perseverance, the example for self-devotion to each other's welfare, rise at every stage of investigation into the habits of economy of these little creatures. Every department of creation is full of interest; in all we see enough to admire, but we do no injustice by the comparison, in saying that no part of animated nature presents so much to feast our wonder and astonishment as this. The habits and labours of the bee have been admired in all ages; their industry and economy in the construction of their inimitable habitations-the mathematical exactness in which the cells are proportioned-the division of labour at home and abroad-the collecting of honey and pollen-the care and attention to the young-the massacre of the drones, and the important functions of the queen, with the mysterious influence which her presence exerts over her loyal subjects, are among the displays of that faculty which may be called animal reason, and which sometimes mocks at the boasted power of the human intellect, by a forecast and perception unattainable by the wis dom and philosophy of man. A taste for the cultivation of the bee would add much to the numerous charms of our delightful country. Their history is a volume of

useful instruction, and only needs to be known to be duly appreciated. The ant, though a useless insect, compared with the bee, is in its history no less interesting and wonderful. The policy and labours of ants, their extensive habitations in the tropical regions, and the remarkable fact, that they keep vast numbers of aphides in a kind of domestic subjection, to furnish them with honey, guarded by them in summer, and protected in their cells during winter, give the air of romance to their history, and raise our admiration of that Power whose works are as perfect in an atom as in a globe. Design is no where more distinctly manifest than in the foot of a fly, which enables the insect by suction to walk in perpendicular and pendulous postures; or in the glow-worm, whose shining light discovers her presence to her winged mate, herself being destitute of the means of flight. A limited knowledge of insects may often give pleasure to a summer ramble, and enliven many a lonely hour of pain and weariness. Although the objects of entomology are insignificant when compared with the nobler races of animals, which more immediately affect our interest, yet of every one who delights to trace the designs of intelligence in creation, and understand and enjoy the world around him, this study will command the few moments in the intervals of life necessary to obtain its leading features.

One of the most obvious beauties of natural history is the great variety in form and features everywhere presented to us,-an endless variety, arising from the combination of a few simple principles, readily perceived and comprehended. Take for example the oxygen of the atmosphere as a supporter of life, without which no plant or animal can exist. In its applica

tion, how various are the means employed by nature, over all whose works, from the least to the greatest, an equal care is extended. In all warm-blooded animals the air is received into the lungs, where it parts with its vital principle to renovate the blood and give health and vigour to the system. In reptiles a different modification of the lungs and the circulating system produces a corresponding difference in the temperature of the body and the habits of the animal, enabling some of them to exist in a torpid state several months without eating or breathing. In fishes we discover another arrangement, that of gills, so constructed as to absorb the oxygen from the water in its passage through them; and in many of the lower orders of aquatic animals, the surfaces of their bodies, like the leaves of plants, appear to perform this important function; while in insects, as has been observed, the air is circulated by means of numerous tubes, interlacing the whole system, and communicating with openings in various parts of the body.

In the vegetable kingdom how simple are the elements which compose the endless variety there displayed. Oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen are the simple substances, which, modified by the law and directed by the influence of vegetable life, perform the ceaseless changes in form, colour, and consistence in the growth, decomposition, and renovation of this important part of creation. These elements accumulate and rise into magnificence and beauty, to fill nature's storehouse. with riches and plenty; then again are scattered, to re-combine in different proportions in other substances, and thus preserve the harmony and order of nature.