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I '^53 



INTRODUCTION. 



An instinctive general love of nature, that is, in other words, of the 

 works of God; has been implanted by Him, the Great Architect of the 

 universe — the Great Parent of all — in the mind of every man. There 

 is no one, whether old or young, or of whatever circumstances or rank 

 in life, who can look without any feeling or emotion on t!ie handiworks 

 of Creation which surround him — who can behold a rich sunset, a 

 storm, the sea, a tree, a mountain, a river, a rainbow, a flower, without 

 some degree of admiration, and some measure of thought. He may, 

 indeed, for the time, or for a moment, be engrossed by some worldly 

 care, or some other subject — some reraembi-ance of the past, or antici- 

 pation of the future; but this cannot always be the case, and whenever 

 the mind is relieved from that overpowering feeling, the spontaneous 

 thoughts which originate in the love of nature, will be sure to arise in 

 his soul. 



Whether indeed in some there is more than a general feeling of this 

 kind; whether all, if opportunities had been afforded to them, and had 

 been afforded to them in gC)od time, would have found that especial 

 delight which others find in the more intimate study of this or that 

 branch of Natural History; whether it may have been only the pressure 

 of different and altogether necessary thoughts that has p're-occupied the 

 mind, and taken away, or, rather, set aside, those which would otherwise 

 have naturally found fiivour with it, T will not take upon me to deter- 

 mine; but thus much I can and do say, because I can say it of and 

 for myself, that with me, in this sense, the universal includes the 

 particular — includes every particular that is inckided under it; for 

 there is no group of the wide-spread family of nature that I do not 

 love to study, and to become more and more intimately acquainted 

 with the members of. They are all the creations of the same wonderful 

 Being — "the hand that made them is Divine." 



And if there be one branch of Natural History which is to me 

 more captivatingly interesting than another, it is Entomology; one which 

 is moreover so easy of full gratification, so compatible with every pursuit, 

 so productive of friendly feeling with others, so amalgamative of the 



