CHAPTER VI. 



INSECTS. 



OP all the productions of nature, insects are by far the most nu- 

 merous ; and as they are endowed with the various powers of creep- 

 ing, flying, and swimming, there is scarcely any place, however re- 

 mote and secure, in which they are not to be found. They are 

 placed by naturalists in the lowest rank of animated nature ; and 

 their conformation, their instincts, and their amazing numbers, are 

 said to show the propriety of such a classification. 



But in this numerous class of animated beings, where shall we 

 find a single instance in which imperfection is made to appear ? In 

 all the prodigious variety that exists between the scorpion and the 

 mite, we certainly behold in the structure of insects abundant evi- 

 dence of the most exquisite skill ; and if by means of the microscope 

 we extend our researches downwards through that minute order 

 of beings, till we arrive at those invisible animalcules which are 

 computed to be twenty-seven millions of times smaller than a mite 

 the same evidences of wisdom and design present themselves in 

 every gradation, and all ideas of imperfection cease.* 



It is not at all surprising, then, that such an accurate searcher in- 

 to nature's works as the excellent Mr. Boyle, should observe * that 

 his wonder dwelt not so much on nature's clocks as on her watch- 

 es.' In several kinds of insects, invisible before to mortal eye, it is 

 not only easy to discover, by means of a good magnifier, the exter- 

 nal appearance of their mouths, their horns, their trunks, and other 

 members, but the very motion of their heart and lungs ! Now, as 

 these little animals are discovered to be organized bodies, how fine 

 and subtle must be the several parts that compose them ! How 

 difficult to conceive the extreme minuteness of the muscles neces- 

 sary to the motion of the heart, the glands for the secretion of the 

 fluids, the stomach and bowels for the digestion of the food, the 

 fineness of the tubes, nerves, arteries, veins; and above all, of the 

 blood, the lymph, and animal spirits, which must be infinitely more 

 so than any of these ! Here the utmost stretch of imagination is 

 brought to the test, without being able to form any adequate con- 

 ception. But these inconceivable wonders, instead of conveying 



* The defects of art are easily discovered by the microscope; but the more narrowly 

 we pry into or scrutinize the works of nature by this instrument, the more the perfection 

 of the inimitable Artist ia made to appear. Viewed by this glass, the finest needle ever 

 polished, presents to the eye a blunt and rugged point ; but the sting of a bee, however 

 magnified, still retains all its acuteness of termination. 



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