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is a long-establisbed and received opinion that hearing is 

 denied to insects, because certain insects utter sounds 

 of buzzing, and "the Death's Head, which squeaks when 

 liurt in a most plaintive tone, naturally shocks the humaji 

 heart, and makes it shudder at the thought of destroying 

 inoffensive animals," and further quotes Shakespeare, 

 *' The poor beetle, crushed beneath the foot, feels the 

 pangs of death as great as when a monarch falls" [sic], 

 then adds: "Gentle reader, pardon this digression; my 

 feelings commanded my pen. " He proceeds to prove that these 

 cries are heard by their fellow insects, which either come to 

 their assistance, as wasps and bees, or arc warned to keep 

 away from danger. 



lie gives a most graphic description of watching a 

 spider, with an elaborate web, entangling a fly, which 

 made a considerable buzzing noise in its efforts to 

 escape, and argues that the noise must have been Jieard 

 by the spicier, which quickly advanced and bit off one of 

 the diptrons haltera : " but, " he says, " suppose the spider 

 to be alarmed only by the vibration of the web, the wind 

 having continual power upon so small and so light a thread 

 as the web is composed of, the spider would be in continual 

 alarm without procuring any subsistence," therefore it must 

 have been the noise of the fly in distress that alarmed the 

 spider. He next apportions the parts of the insect's head 

 to the various organs of sense, the antennae being those of 

 hearing, and the palpi those of smell. " As to form, 

 that matters not : nature, far superior to the utmost 

 soaring of human wisdom, sports luxuriant with her celestial 

 fancy, and locks up the most delicate organs in invisible 

 meandering niembranes, the outer parts or extremities of 

 which organs, appear only as an ornament to the form of 

 the animal, the least deficiency in which deforms the 

 creature. O nature! heaven-created! thy works declare 

 thy origin! All holiness, knowledge supreme, wisdom 

 inexplicable! pei-mit me, only a fashioned atom of thy 

 animated matter, to wish for knowledge sufficient to explain 

 thy wondrous works!" 



