OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 39 



to derive further profit from them. It seems more par- 

 ticularly incumbent upon the professors of the divine art 

 of healing to become conversant with this as well as the 

 other branches of Natural History ; for not only do they 

 derive some of their most useful drugs from insects, but 

 many also of the diseases upon which they are consulted, 

 as we shall see hereafter, are occasioned by them. For 

 want of this kind of information medical men run the 

 risk of confounding diseases perfectly distinct, at least as 

 to the animal that causes them. It would be a most 

 desirable thing to have professors in each branch of Na- 

 tural History in our universities, and to make it indis- 

 pensable, in order to the obtaining of any degree in 

 Physic, that the candidate should have attended these 

 lectures. We may judge from the good effects that the 

 arts have derived from the present very general attention 

 to Chemistry, how beneficial would be the consequence 

 if Entomology were equally cultivated : and I shall con- 

 clude this paragraph with what I think may be laid down 

 as an incontrovertible axiom : That the profit we de- 

 rive from the works of creation will be in proportion to 

 the accuracy of our knowledge of them and their pro- 

 perties. 



I trust I have now said enough to convince you and 

 every thinking man that the study of insects, so far from 

 being vain, idle, trifling, or unprofitable, may be attended 

 with very important advantages to mankind, and ought 

 at least to be placed upon a level with many other 

 branches of science, against which such accusations are 

 never alleged. 



But I must not conceal from you that there are ob- 



