ELEMENTS 



ENTOMOLOGY. 



CHAPTER I. 

 WHAT IS AN INSECT ? 



The question witli which this Chapter is headed 

 may appear supererogatory to many, but it is never- 

 theless one the solution of which is necessary before 

 we can proceed further. The popular notion of what 

 is meant by the term ^ insect ^ is rather too vague to be 

 of much service m a scientific point of view, — it is 

 capable of being stretched to almost any extent, so as 

 to include creatures of the most dissimilar nature, 

 when there is any occasion to bring them under a 

 common denomination. Thus even in works pro- 

 fessing to initiate their readers into the mysteries of 

 nature, the term insect may be seen applied indis- 

 criminately to Leeches, Snails, Limpets, and inver- 

 tebrated animals of almost aU kinds ; and nothing is 

 more common than to see the name of coral-insects 

 given to the polype-architects of those wonderful 

 structures, which, in the tropical regions of the Pacific, 

 serve as the foundation and protection of multitudes of 

 fertile islands teeming with a happy population. More- 



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