ENTOMOLOGY. 



163 



moss, he will toil up the rugged mountain with eagerness, 

 regardless alike of fatigue and exposure, and feel richly 

 repaid by the possession of his undescribed treasure. 

 For a beautiful shell, with cheerfulness will he part 

 with his last dollar, and proudly add it to hrs finely 

 polished and carefully arranged cabinet. But why, it 

 may be asked, is the study of insects less cultivated than 

 either of the other branches ? Why have they each en- 

 thusiastic disciples wherever we may look, while those 

 who devote themselves to this branch, are comparatively so 

 few ? Would the bver of nature, he who delights to re- 

 tire from the scenes of a busy woild, and amid the har- 

 mony about him, forget the bitterness of his daily cup, 

 cherish a fond delight for the vegetable kingdom, or 

 listen enraptured to the free and delicious notes of the 

 joyous songsters, and not even capture the splendid 

 object before him, or bestow upon it a passing moment, 

 if from it he could reap either pleasure or advantage ? I 

 would endeavor to answer such questions, to remove 

 the objections which may exist to the study of entomo- 

 logy, and offer such motives as may appear why it should 

 be cultivated with equal devotion as the other depart- 

 ments of Natural History. 



OBJECTIONS. 



Many an individual has in childhood imbibed an 

 aversion for insects, from the circumstance of having met 

 with them in his articles of food ; or having observed 

 them in situations, little to be desired either for their 

 cleanliness or comfort ; an aversion, which, like other 

 early impressions, is extremely difficult to be removed ; 

 increasing, unless an effort be made to destroy it, in pro- 

 portion to the frequency of the exposure. Who does not, 

 if in his boyish days he has often noticed an insect hover- 

 ing over a stagnant pool, or glutting itself with putre- 

 fying matter, particularly if he has seized that insect and 

 found it not only overrun with parasites, but emitting a 

 most offensive odour, even more unpleasant than that 

 arising from its repast who does not remember, that 

 the mere presence of that insect, preserved perhaps by 

 some zealous companion, did for a time recall the preju- 

 dices which were so early formed, and all the trifling 



