78 - j'HE rii(niDE.\cE of cjod 



of the divine protection. The divine Wisdom has means in abundance 

 to preserve them after they are created, and also takes care to carry ou 

 the races from generation to generation. It is likely that all the species, 

 in existence fonr thousand years ago, have been perpetuated down to the 

 present time, and will continue to be propagated until the end of all 

 things on the earth. 



Insects, with the exception of one or two species, do not bring forth 

 their young alive, like most other animals, and hence they cannot them- 

 selves nourish their oflspring, because, for the most part, the parents die 

 before the eggs are hatched, or if they do not, they pay no attention to 

 them. The eggs are then literally left to Providence. But the parent 

 insect guided by an unerring instinct, makes some provision for her fu- 

 ture progeny, which she is destined never to see, by depositing her eggs 

 on the very food which is adapted to her young, though she herself 

 never touches that food. The butterfly that lives on the honey of flov/- 

 ers, will not lay her eggs on a flower-cup, for this would be no food for 

 the young caterpillar. The beetle that feeds on leaves will not <leposit 

 her eggs ou a tree, but on a carrion, or a rotten log, or decayed vegeta- 

 ble, which is the appropriate food of the grub. We call this instinct, 

 but what else is it but Providence ? 



Many spiders cover their eggs with a silken or woolly web, and 

 carry their bag-like ball with them, until the eggfi arc hatched. Others 

 suspend the bag by a thread, and remain for a short time in the vicinity, 

 as if for the purpose of guarding it. The water- beetles also usually 

 weave a bag for their eggs, which is externally composed of a viscous 

 paste, and internally of a white silk-like substance, by which the eggs 

 are surrourided, to prevent the intrusion of the water. This sack is fas- 

 tened to a water plant, so that it is not carried away or broken during 

 floods. It is like a boat safely moored during a storm. In this manner, 

 .all insects provide for their progeny in one way or another, and the 

 races are perpetuated without the fostering care of the parent. The 

 young caterpillars or grubs are left to their own resources, but Provi- 

 dence lakes care of tliem. 



The eggs resist the eflccts of the coldest weather. The shells are 

 either of a glassy or horny consistence, so that the weather cannot af- 

 fect their internal substance, or they arc soft and lender, but yet covered 

 ■with such a thick coating of hau', that they remain luiinjured. If the 

 lender eggs of other species lie naked on the surface of the feeding 

 place, they arc covered with a soit of varnisli which the rain cannot 

 dissolve, and are glued so fiist that no storm can shake them off. Those 

 of this sort are not expujeil tu cold, for they are hatched out during the 



