PREFACE. 



PHILOSOPHY has invested even the commonest ob 

 jects of Nature with charms unknown to the unedu 

 cated. The conditions of our being are such, that we 

 are tied by destiny to every object; and the more in 

 timate and appreciable the connection, the more inter 

 esting and important to us becomes a full understand 

 ing of our mutual relations and dependencies in the 

 vast arena of Life. No part of Natural Science, there 

 fore, can be considered unimportant or devoid of inter 

 est. Still there are differences in our appreciation of 

 its individual parts, as there are differences in our tastes 

 and mental capacities. If we are accustomed, like the 

 sportive birds in their splendid plumage and graceful 

 motions, to look down upon the mammalia as the real 

 laboring class in the dominion of the Animal King 

 dom ; if we despise the Eeptiles on account of their 

 ugliness and the deadly venom which they contain, 

 still we may approach with pleasure the class of Fish 

 es, the greatest part of which are excellent food, a 

 valuable article of commerce, and a great source of 

 wealth to many nations. 



No branch of Natural History deserves a more care 

 ful and thorough study than the class of Insects, be 

 cause none is more abounding in use or injury to man. 



