51 
Rev. F. W. Hope on Succinic Insects. 
odour attracted them. As to Diptcra, clouds of gnats may have 
been driven by the wind against the bark, and various genera of 
flies, seeking their usual evening resort, the sunny side of trees, 
may have settled on the resin, stuck fast, and perished in the same 
common grave. In many instances the Anime appears to have in- 
durated almost instantaneously, and from the perfect state in which 
we find the insects, we may conclude that they perished almost 
without a struggle. In proof of which, we find Gryllus in the at' 
titude of springing, Acheta arrested in its flight, the wings still ex- 
panded, and Brentus surprised almost in the act of copulation. In 
short, the attitude of life is admirably preserved even after death, 
and, like the figures in the Sleeping Beauty, they seem to have 
been suddenly arrested in their several avocations, and appear 
ready to awake from the cataleptic lethargy which entranced them, 
though a century had passed away. 
In conclusion, I have only to add how vastly superior (in these 
instances also) the works of nature are to the operations of art, 
greatly as the latter are often extolled, almost at the expense of 
the former. Look at the insect in its amber shroud, and then 
at the most perfect specimen of Egyptian mummy. In the one, 
we see the beauty of the original preserved, and its colouring in- 
creased, whilst it is embalmed in a more durable and precious 
covering than has ever fallen to the most magnificent of monarchs. 
In the other, we see a body “ once pregnant with celestial fire,” re- 
taining still the form and lineaments of man, though now a ghastly 
spectacle, loathsome to the eye, and offensive to the smell, and 
while we gaze on the distorted visage, the emaciated and collapsed 
body of the Egyptian, we can scarcely do otherwise than imagine — 
“ The pangs he suffered, and the death he died.”* 
I hope I have shown from this imperfect sketch of Succinic In- 
sects, that the Science of Entomology involves collateral consider- 
ations of a very high interest ; and, although it will probably 
never attain to the brilliant renown which its sister sciences have 
reached, still it may be rendered eminently useful and instructive, 
which should ever be the chief end of all scientific pursuits. 
* Vide Boone's Farnese Hercules. 
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