140 



THE UNIVERSE. 



gence. Mr. White, an English naturalist, has made this 

 clearly perceptible by representing the heads of a large 

 series of Vertebrata from man to the crane, the extreme 

 lengthening of the face of which corresponds to its intel- 

 lectual inferiority. An analogous work might perhaps be 

 executed in respect to insects. At the beginning of the 

 picture would be found the tiger-beetle and the Carabidoe, 

 daring flesh-eating insects of ferocious habits, and with 

 strongly marked heads ; at the other end of the scale we 



73. The Pine Curculio, enlarged. 



should find the long-beaked Curculio, which, from the ex- 

 treme prolongation of its facial angle and its limited capac- 

 ity, would correspond perfectly with the crane. 



The intelligence of insects rises under certain circum- 

 stances to the most finished subtlety ; we are surprised to 

 find so much cunning and resource amono; them. Of this 

 there are abundant instances. A carnivorous animal, hun- 

 gering after living prey, but having a disgust for dead 

 bodies, is on the point of seizing in the water the large 

 shelly larva of a Dytiscus. All at once the latter perceives 

 his enemy, and when touched by him, from being full- 



