54 STATES OF INSECTS. (Hgg.) 
sion contains within itself the germe of the future butterfly 
and of all its envelopes, which successtvely presenting 
themselves are thrown off; till it appear in perfection and 
beauty, with all its parts and organs, when no further de- 
velopment takes place. 
I believe you will agree with me, when you have read 
and considered the above abstract of Dr. Herold’s hy- 
pothesis, that in it he substitutes a name for knowledge, 
talks of a vis formatrix because his assisted eye cannot 
penetrate to the primordial essence or state of the germes 
of being, and denies the existence of what he cannot dis- 
cover?. From ancient ages philosophers have done the 
same, to conceal their own ignorance of causes under a 
sounding name, when they have endeavoured to pene- 
trate within the veil of the sanctum sanctorum, which it 
is not permitted to vain man to enter. This has occa- 
sioned the invention, not only of the term in question, 
but of many others, as little meriting the appellation of 
Szgns of ideas ; such as Plastic Nature, Epigenesis, Pan- 
spermia, Idea seminalis, Nisus formativus, &c. But upon 
this subject you cannot do better than consult what the 
Jearned Dr. Barclay has said in his admirable work On 
Life and Organization», in which he has placed the 
inanity, the vow et preterea nihil, of such high-sounding 
terms in their true light. The processes of nature in 
* Dr. Virey’s observations under the article Embryo, (N. Dict. 
d’ Hist. Nat. x. 195.) deserve here to be considered. ‘Il y a donc 
quelque chose au dessus de l’intelligence humaine dans cette forma- 
tion des étres ; en vain on veut l’approfondir, c’est un abime dans 
lequel on ne voit que la main de Dieu. A quoi bon s’appesantir sur 
le mystére de la formation des étres, sans esperance de l’expliquer ? 
Ne vaut-il pas mieux observer les opérations de la nature autant 
qwil est permis a l’ceil humain de les appercevoir ?” 
b  jiaaiy. 
