24 Mr, MarshamV Objcrvathns on 



Reptiles and fifh difplay great penetration in the mode and fituation 

 in which they depofit their eggs and {pawn ; but to the eyes of the 

 penetrating naturalift, this care and attention will appear more art* 

 fully employed and more eminently confpicuous in thofe minute 

 beings called infects, who, although on a curfory view they feern to 

 contradict the general remark, by never living to amft their future 

 offspring, yet to an attentive obferver exhibit a fyftem of ingenuity 

 and contrivance fcarcely to be credited, in fearching out and deter- 

 mining a proper place for depofiting their eggs, not onl)< in fafety 

 from their numerous enemies, but alfo m fituations where a fuffL- 

 cient quantity of food is on the fpot to fupport and nouriih the 

 larva immediately on its breaking the {hell : and fo fec-rely and 

 fuccefsfully is this generally done, that it not only eludes the in- 

 quifitive and prying eye of man, and is impenetrable to the large 

 animals, but even defies the combined power of the elements ; for 

 fo artful and fagacious do thefe minute beings appear in all their 

 operations, and fo admirably are they furniihed with inftruments 

 peculiarly adapted to each fpecies, that one would think it impofiible 

 for any accident to hurt or deflroy them. Yet fuch is the divine 

 law of order eftabliined by the omnifcient Creator, that no animal, 

 however minute, is permitted to increaie beyond the bounds pre- 

 fcribed. And it is therefore wifely ordained, that the cunning, fa- 

 gaclty, or inftinct of one infect fhall counteract and render futile 

 the fkill and labour of another, fo that the artful prefervation of 

 one kind tends to the entire ruin and destruction of its neighbour, 

 by which means an equilibrium is preferved, and no one fpecies 

 preponderates. To enumerate the different genera, or defcribe the 

 method employed by each fpecies that has been obferved to fecure 

 its eggs, would far exceed my limits. Suffice it to fay, that they 

 are placed on the trunks, leaves, and even roots of trees and plants, 



in 



