INSECT TRANSFORMATIONS. 



SECTION I.— EGGS OF INSECTS 



Chapter I. 



All Insects come from Eggs as Plants do fr.om Seeds. — Vnlt;ar errors 

 of Insects being generated by Putrefaction and Blighting Winds dis 

 proved by experiment. 



It was universally believed by the ancient philoso- 

 pliers, that maj^gots, flies, and other insects were 

 generated from putrefying substances. This opinion 

 continues to be held by uninformed persons among 

 ourselves; — though it would be equally correct to 

 maintain, that a flight of vultures had been generated 

 by the dead carcass which they may be seen devouring, 

 or a flock of sheep from the grass-field in which they 

 graze. Another opinion, perhaps still more generally 

 diffused, is, that caterpillars, aphides, and other garden 

 insects which destroy the leaves of plants, are gene- 

 rated, propagated, or, at least, spread about, by certain 

 winds or states of the air, mysteriously and inde- 

 finitely termed blight. The latter belief is, probably, 

 not so easy of immediate refutation as the former; — 

 but, as we shall endeavour to show, it seems to us to 

 be equally erroneous. 



The small size of insects renders it somewhat easy 

 to pass oif fanciful opinions regarding them, since it 

 is diflkult for common observers to detect mistakes ; 



B 



