2 INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 



those which we first feel an inclination to study ; while, on the contrary, 

 thinirs that must be sought for in order to be seen, and which when 

 sought for avoid the approach and inquiring eye of man, are often the 

 last to which he directs his attention. The vegetable kingdom stands in 

 the former predicament. Flora, with a hberal hand, has scattered 

 around us her charming productions ; they everywhere meet and allure 

 us, enchanting us by their beauty, regaling us by their fragrance, and 

 interesting us as much by their subservience to our luxuries and comfort, 

 as to the necessary support and well-being of our hfe. Beasts, birds, and 

 fishes, also, in some one or other of these respects, attract our notice ; 

 but bisects, unfortunate insects, are so far from attracting us, that we are 

 accustomed to abhor them from our childhood. The first knowledge 

 that we get of them is as tormentors ; the}^ are usually pointed out to us 

 by those about us, as ugly, filthy, and noxious creatures ; and the whole 

 insect world, butterflies perhaps and some few others excepted, are de- 

 voted by one universal ban to proscription and execration, as fit only to 

 be trodden under our feet and crushed ; so that often, before we can 

 persuade ourselves to study them, we have to remove from our minds 

 prejudices deeply rooted and of long standing. 



Another principal reason which has contributed to keep Entomology 

 in the background arises from the diminutive size of the objects of which 

 it treats. Being amongst the most minute of nature's productions, they 

 do not so readily catch the eye of the observer ; and when they do, man- 

 kind in general are so apt to estimate the worth and importance of things 

 by their bulk, that because we usually measure them by the duodecimals 

 of an inch instead of by the foot or by the yard, insects are deemed too 

 insignificant parts of the creation, and of too little consequence to its 

 general welfare, to render them worthy of any serious attention or study. 

 What small foundation there is for such prejudices and misconceptions, I 

 shall endeavour to show in the course of our future correspondence ; my 

 object now, as the champion and advocate of Entomology, is to point out 

 to you her comparative advantages, and to remove the veil which has 

 hitherto concealed those attractions, and that grace and beauty, which 

 entitle her to equal admiration at least with her sister branches of Natural 

 History. 



In estimating the comparative value of the study of any department in 

 this branch' of science, we ought to contrast it with others, as to the rank 

 its objects hold in the scale of being ; the amusement and instruction 

 which the student may derive from it ; and its utility to society at large. 

 With respect to public utility, the study of each of the three kingdoms 

 may perhaps be allowed to stand u[)on nearly an equal footing ; I shall 

 not, therefore, enter u[)on that subject till I come to consider the question 

 Cui bono'^ and to point out the uses of Entomology, but confine myself 

 now to the two first of these circumstances. 



As to rank, I must claim for the entomologist some degree of pre- 

 cedence before the mineralogist and the botanist. The mineral kingdom, 

 whose objects are neither organised nor sentient, stands certainl}' at the 

 foot of the scale. Next above this is the vegetable, whose lovely tribes, 

 though not endued with sensation, are organised. In the last and highest 

 place ranks the animal world, consisting of beings that are both organised 

 and sentient. To this scale of precedence, the great modern luminary of 

 Natural History, notwithstanding that Botany was always his favourite 



