18 TO MY READERS. 



esting to every one, of whatever mental capacity or taste. And it 

 has been very generally so considered for the rich and poor, lettered 

 and unlettered, the statesman and philosopher, manufacturer and mer- 

 chant, husbandman and horticulturist, clergyman and physician, have 

 often made this study the principal occupation of their leisure hours. 



There is no class of animals with which so many persons have 

 been occupied, and on which so many valuable and splendid works 

 have been published, as on Insects, particularly Beetles and Butter- 

 flies. None of Earth's creatures have attracted more universal 

 admiration than these. Many to whom the Book of Nature is a 

 sealed book, have been enticed by the splendour of their colour, and 

 their fairy-like motions, to hunt for them in meadows, fields, and 

 woods, to place them as ornaments in rich frame-work upon the walls 

 of their parlours, or to nourish and raise them with the greatest care 

 in their rooms, that they may not lose a single hair of their magni- 

 ficent, variegated dress. 



No class of animals presents so great diversity of occupation, and 

 so many grades of society, as the Insects. Here we see the indus- 

 trious labourer busy at his work, there the lazy lounging beggar ; 

 here upon the leafy boughs, or before the gates of their subterranean 

 abodes, myriads of musicians are playing their fiddles, and there 

 the skilful artist is building his wonderful dwelling ; while above in 

 the blue sky flutters a high nobility, clad in gold, silver, purple, and 

 silk, fed on the nectar of flowers ; and on the earth below are lurking 

 troublesome drones, and disgusting parasites. 



Now, although we have a great number of learned men in our 

 country who have distinguished themselves in the different branches 

 of Natural History, still few works have been published on the 

 subject. Much credit is due to Professor Godman for his excellent 

 work on American Mammalia, which has been augmented by the 

 late publications of Audubon ; also to Wilson, Lucien Bonaparte, and 



