]4 \\RIKTIES OF INSECT LIFK. 



Dear Entomology ! We have called thee our hobby, we 

 have likened thee to a hack; but thou art more. Thou art a 

 powerful Genie, a light-winged Fairy, not merely bearing us 

 through earth, and sky, and water, but peopling every scene 

 in every element with new and living forms, before invisible. 

 For us, Nature has now no desert places : touched by thy 

 magic wand, every tree has become a peopled city, teeming 

 with busy multitudes ; every flower, a pavilion, hung with 

 gorgeous tapestry, for the summer occupation of Insect nobles, 

 clad in velvet, gauze, or coat of mail; nay, the very moss 

 that grows upon the tree or clothes the stone, has become 

 to us a forest, where, as in forests of larger growth, roam the 

 fierce and the gentle, preying or preyed on by each other; and 

 the stone, we have only to upturn it, and we are certain 

 almost to discover beneath, some hidden lurker, or some 

 wondrous subterranean structure, perhaps a solitary dwelling, 

 perhaps a nursery, perhaps a general home of refuge. Yes, 

 our darling pursuit, of ah 1 most lightsome and life-giving, 

 with thee for our companion, the bare, the barren, the desolate, 

 and the death-like become instinct with life. The arid heath, 

 the decaying tree, the mouldering wall are converted at once 

 into fertile fields of interest and inquiry, while the summer 

 skies and glittering waters grow brighter yet with glancing 

 wings and oar-like feet ; and with the knowledge that both are 

 plied by a multitude of happy creatures. 



But, stand still, our favourite hobby ! We must draw in 



