2 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. 



men have been observing and reasoning upon for 



iges, are by no means satisfactorily explained, or 



reduced to the precision that every science should 



aspire to. Yet, however difficult it may be entirely 



to comprehend the phenomena we daily witness, 



ever- thmg in nature is full of instruction. Thus 



the h-amblest flower of the field, although, to one 



whose curiosity has not been excited, and whose un- 



ierstanding has, therefore, remained uninformed, it 



nay appear worthless and contemptible, is valuable 



> the botanist, not only with regard to its place in 



16 arrangement of this portion of the Creator's 



^orks. but as it leads his mind forward to the con- 



Ideration of those beautiful provisions for the sup- 



ort of vegetable hfe, which it is the part of the phy- 



iologist to study and admire. 



This train of reasoning is peculiarly applicable to 

 le economy of insects. They constitute a very large 

 id interesting part of the animal kingdom. They are 

 verywhere about us. The spider weaves his curious 

 eb in our houses; the caterpillar constructs his silken 

 ell in our gardens; the wasp that hovers over our 

 )od h:is a nest not far removed from us, which she 

 as assisted to build with the nicest art; the beetle 

 lat crawls across our path is also an ingenious and 

 aborious mechanic, and has some curious instincts to 

 shibit to those who will feel an interest in watching 

 is movements; and the moth that eats mto our 

 iOthes has something to plead for our pity, for he 

 ame, like us, naked into the world, and he has de- 

 troyed our garments, not in malice or wantonness, 

 rat that he may clothe himself with the same wool 

 vhich we have st'ipped from the sheep. An obser- 

 vation of the habiifi of these little creatures is full of 

 aVaable lessons, which the abundance of the examples 

 ' ^lo tendency to diminish. The more such observa- 

 iioim are multiphed, the more are we led forward to the 



