INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 11 



ordinary, she has registered in others figures which 

 correspond with several dates of the Christian era-^. 



Nor has nature been lavish only in the apparel and 

 ornament of these privileged tribes; in other respects 

 she has been equally unsparing of her favours. To 

 some she has given fins like those offish, or a beak re- 

 sembling that of birds^': to others horns, nearly the 

 counterparts of those of various quadrupeds. The 

 bull"^, the stag'', the rhinoceros % and even the hitherto 

 vainly sought for unicorn^, have in this respect many 

 representatives amongst insects. One is armed with tusks 

 not unlike those of the elcplnmt?^; another is bristled 

 with spines, as the porcupine and hedge-hog with 

 quills'"; a third is an armadillo in miniature; the dis- 

 proportioned hind legs of the kangaroo give a most 

 grotesque appearance to a fourth ' ; and the threaten- 

 ing head of the snake is found in a fifth''. It would, 

 however, be endless to produce all the instances which 

 occur of such imitations ; and I shall only remark that, 

 generally speaking, these arms and instruments in 

 structure and finishing far exceed those which they re- 

 semble. 



But further, insects not only mimic, in a manner in- 

 finitely various, every thing in nature, they may also 

 with very little violence be regarded as symbolical of 

 beings out of and above nature. The butterfly, adorned 



* On the underside of the primary wings near the margin in Papilio 

 ' jiglaia, Lathonia, Silene, &c. ** Empis, L, Asihis, L. 



^ Copris Taurus, F. ^ Lucanus Cervus, L. 



* Oryctes, Latr. ' Geotnipes Hercules, F. 

 ^ Melilta spinigera, Kirby. " Hispa, L. 



' Cetonia marropns,'M\is. FrHTici]]. " RaphiiUa ophiopsis,L. 



