LETTERS OF A CITIZEN. 501 



have made a catalogue of nearly one thousand works on this branch 

 of Natural History, written by several hundred authors, and are not 

 half the number it would be easy to collect with a little more re- 

 search. 



Aristotle paid great attention to the animals coming under this 

 head, and made a classification of them. Others of the ancients 

 after his time were not unmindful of them. Since the new dawn 

 of science we have Linnreus, Thumberg, Pallas, Swammerdaraj 

 Reaumur (one of the most classic of naturalists), Baron Degier, 

 Ray, Fourcroy, Fabricius, Brogniart, Desmarest, Kirby and Spence, 

 M'Leay, Strauss, Durckheim, Andouin, Geoffroy, St. Villaire, Walek- 

 enaer, De Serres, Savigni, Cuvier but it is needless to mention the 

 names of eminent men, ancient or modern, who have devoted their 

 talents to this subject, especially as it is now ascertained, on the au- 

 thority of Joel R. Poinsett, secretary of war, Mahlon Dickerson, 

 ex-secretary of the navy, and member of the Philosophical Soci- 

 ety of Philadelphia, and Lieutenant Wilkes, commander of the " al- 

 together scientific expedition," that these arduous labours in the 

 cause of science were valueless ! Sir, I do you no wrong ; such is 

 the only interpretation your decision will bear, unless you acknowl- 

 edge a wilful neglect of duty. 



Again, sir, while treating thus lightly individual authority, you 

 should have recollected that there exists an Entomological So- 

 ciety in Paris, and another in London, each comprising hundreds 

 of members, who publish their transactions annually, and have 

 their agents and correspondents in all parts of the world. I have 

 not yet heard, however, that they have furnished their agents with 

 three-foot rules, for the purpose of ascertaining by measurement 

 the precise scientific value of what they may discover ; on the con- 

 trary, I doubt if they place a higher estimation upon the great lob- 

 ster, near eight feet long, caught in the Seine a few years back, than 

 upon the smallest insect that enjoys the light and air of heaven. 

 So much, indeed, is the study of smaller animals necessary, ere the 

 principles of zoology can be generalized, that the French govern- 

 ment has recently directed about twenty naturalists to complete a 

 new work on natural science, in sixty volumes, to be exclusive- 

 ly devoted to the lower order of animals. This work is now near- 

 ly ready for the press. I will give you a specimen of the arrange- 

 ment: 



