4 THE LIFE OF AN INSECT. 



" Let no presuming impious railer tax 

 Creative wisdom, as if aught was formed 

 In vain, or not for admirable ends. 

 Shall little haughty ignorance pronounce 

 His works unwise, of which the smallest part 

 Exceeds the narrow vision of her mind ]" 



Animals, birds, reptiles, fish, and plants, have 

 had their biographers^ and ponderous books have 

 been written to give us an introduction to their 

 various families : so also have insects ; although 

 despised by many, they have been highly esteemed 

 by a few ; and if honours went by the size of books 

 written about them, it might perhaps be shown 

 that the insects can boast of great and closely- 

 printed books taken up with nothing else but an 

 account of them and their doings. 



Perhaps there is another feeling about insects 

 which ought to be mentioned beside the feeling of 

 contempt ; that is, the feeling of aversion. A great 

 many people, ought we to write ? a great many 

 ladies and children, are ready to scream, and 

 take to their heels if they see a poor "black 

 beetle," racing in terror of his life for fear of them, 

 and as both parties are equally frightened of one 

 another it becomes very difficult to manage a 

 reconciliation between them. At the sight of 



