120 THE REPORT OF THE No. 19 



one another when flying about. It is not until they are captured, killed, pinned and spread, 

 that the diflference between thsm can be discovered. Yet many people see nothing in the pins 

 but an evidence of cruelty on the part of collectors. No intelligent collector of the present 

 day would think of pinning an insect before killing it, when there are so many approved 

 methods of giving them pleasantly and instantly everlasting sleep ; and thereby secure his 

 specimens in perfect condition by preventing fluttering. Much misinformation prevails even 

 amongst educated persons about the suft'ering of insects, which is not quite creditable to them. 

 Suffering is the result of being possessed of a nervous organization. The more highly this 

 organization is developed, the more sensitive to suffering is the creature possessing it. All 

 creatures are not thus equally endowed, therefore all creatures are not equally liable to suffer- 

 ing. The human race is supposed to stand highest in this respect, and yet there are wide 

 differences between individuals of it. A highly cultivated and refined woman is far more liable 

 to suffering, mental and physical, than one who has been exposed to rough conditions all her 

 life. Insects have a very low organized nervous system, and therefore are not, and cannot be, 

 liable to acute suffering. Apart from the science of life in that respect, it has been abundantly 

 demonstrated. As an illustration : A moth asleep in day time on the side of a tree, has had a 

 pin passed through its body, and firmly fixed to the tree without disturbing its repose. It re- 

 mained in that condition without showing signs of its discomfort until evening came, when it 

 wanted to fly about, then it fluttered vigorously ; which might have been mistaken by an ob- 

 server as an evidence of suffering, when it was only the result of its eager desire to indulge its 

 nocturnal habit. I have cut half the abdomen off a mosquito that was feeding, and it did not 

 injure its appetite in the slightest. But it is our nature to associate suffering with injury, 

 therefore it should not be wantonly indulged in. Children especially should be taught to deal 

 mercifully with every living creature, even a mosquito, and dispatch it as expeditiously as 

 possible, to save others from suffering. But I have heard boys condemned as wicked and 

 cruel when chasing and capturing butterflies, and peremptorily ordered to stop it, which was 

 intended as a fine exhibition ot tender consideration for the feelings of the insects, whilst it 

 showed none whatever for those Of the boys. Surely a boy is of more value than many 

 insects. Sentimentalism, however lofty, is not edifying. 



Man's prerogative in this world is to dominate nature, and make the powers of nature sub- 

 servient to his advancement, and all modern progress and improvement in horticulture, agri- 

 culture and stock raising, is founded on the principles of man's ability to improve upon nature 

 for his own benefit. But to accomplish that, man's work mnst be in haroiony with the laws of 

 nature, else disaster may follow. Nature when left to the operation cif its own beneficient 

 laws, succeeds in establishing and maintaining an exquisitely adjusted balance between the 

 numerous conflicting elements in its own vast domain. But man in his eager desire for large 

 profits and quick returns, thinks he can accomplish his ends Ijy more direct methods ; ignorant 

 of those finely adapted harmonies, he goes to work in his own way to bring them about, but 

 often discovers to his sorrow, that he has started some of nature's machinery in motion that is 

 working in an opposite direction to his intentions, and is threatening his ruin rather than his 

 advancement ; so he has to call a halt, to reconsider his methods, and with patient labor, ob- 

 servation and research try to discover where he has gone wrong, what he has overlooked and 

 how to do better. When Henry Ward Beecher undertook to be a farmer, he .net with so 

 many unforaeen and unexpected hinderances to success, that it seemed to him as if all nature 

 had joined in a league against him, and he was ready under the influence of such feelings to give 

 that reply which raised such a storm against him at the time. When asked how to get rid of 

 Canada-thistles, he said, "Cultivate them for the market. Then the bugs will attack them 

 and the mildew will blast them. Then the grubs will eat their roots, and the cater- 

 pillars will devour their leaves. Their stocks will rot, and their blossoms fail to 



