a (iKNKRAI. (-UNNIDKRATION<t. 



Iii-MH-t"*, «» ilrfliiitl ill Ihr r<>r<t(i>iiiK |>nrni;ru)>h, art' ittill very rl<>»cly rrlaUtI lo othrr 

 rln^^'H ••fiinijiinN : ihii"* ih<-> n'««iiil>l«' tin- M)ria|><H|(<t in the iitintilaror Jointtil ttnictiirp, 

 and ill ihf |M>vM>vM<>n mF tui> aiilcnnn*, but difTiT fn>iii llu-in by ihr ilivi»ion of th«-lr dodlrs 

 into ihnt- M-Kiuciilii, whllo tin- MyrlajxHlcii ni» rotii|><>MHl of many ring*, to rarh «>f whirh 

 ihcrv i!» providtxl a jwir of \v^, as In tlir latiiily of aninnil!* mlli-d C«-iiiiiM-<lc». Tluv rr- 

 «>tul>lc the "iiidcpt, or Anirhnldii-, somewhat In t)i<- division of lli<- \<"*\}, but the Ik ad in 

 npidt-r* it »<ddfnd l» th«' thorax : th«-y nrv also <l«>tiliilcof iintcniui* ; thr iur%oiL«> >y«lrm 

 is «Hiiidcii'<«-<l into fewer o iilnil Kani;lia, and siuntiUK s thiir nsplmlion is anulogotui tu 

 the jmliiiomiry, tlic air Iwinij nn-eive*! into N»es or Imirh. Tliey reMiiil>le the CniMarca in a 

 few ihijnis, but ililVer e'^'<rntiiill\ fri>iii theiii in the rhiinuter of the re>|iirutory apiMimtun, 

 Inasniiich us tlu* (.'rustarea are provide*! with or^nns analo)(oiLs to the gills of tish«-s. Thr 

 r«'s«>niblance which ins«Tts U-ar to the worms, Annelidfs, is thr annulatc«l ktrurturt- : those 

 woriuM have neither anteiinie iior feet, and, a.s to sex, they art' lllo^tly heniia|>hnxlitr». In 

 addition to the fore;;oing, I may add, none of the i>la9M.>s hnvr wings hut inst-rt.s, and their 

 metaniorphos«'s are of a dilTerent ehararter, ronsistin>? nuiinly of a easting of the integu- 

 ments as in the rmb and lobster. 



All inM'<ls are ovipun'iis, or spring from an «-gg laid U-for*' the birth of tin- individual. 

 A few examples are known when- the egg is retained in the Ix-dy, ami there hatched. 

 Thesi* eggs an- often rareliilly eoncealed, and henee an- diM-overed with ditririilty : it is 

 owing to thiseireumstanre that they multiply to an injurious extent, and are i.ften rapablc 

 of (levastating extensive territories. They are, however, generally laid ujion the bodirs 

 which are to pr\^>vide the {«tnl for the young : tho^e which subsist upon hcrl>arcou.s plants, 

 on* fuitnd ujton or near the fidiuge ; those which fe4>d upon w<N>d ore depoAilr<i in hole?, 

 or in cracks and crevices of tn-es, int<i which the young animal immediately l<egins to 

 penetrate ; or, which ise«jiially Iwid, the egg is dejxisited in the rudiments of Uie fruit, and 

 will Ih- ready to devour it when it is mature. 



InM'cts are extremely pndillc, but the dilTerent -pecies varj* exceedingly. Acconling lo 

 a statement in the Naliirnlist's Library, a certJiin large fly {Mrnmhrina mtridiana) la} s only 

 two eggs ; while the female white ant lays pn>lmbly not fewer than forty or fifty niillii>ns 

 m a year, which are «'Xtruded at the rate of sixty in a minute wh«-n engag« d in the act*. 

 This statement eiubrac^-s the extremes, others are known to lay, ns the queen be** for 

 example, fifty thousjind ; female wasp, thirty thousand, though generally only fn>ni two lo 

 ihre* thousand. The eggs of th«- wheat fly are not very niimeMus, and prol-ably les* than 

 one humlred ; yet oven in that small numlx-r the incnas*- will l«o suirieient to socun- the 

 d«'struction of the whealfields in a large district. But many ins«Tts prmiure s«-veral brrM^Js 

 in a !H'asi>n. and some of the most pn'lifu- pn«liice several generationsof young, consisting 

 mainly of females, which are ca|Mible of laying eggs as s«>on as they have rrarhe<I a stage 



* Nalutalbt'i Library, tnln^oellnii, pp 73, 73. 



