ENTOMOLOGY. 



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tions, rivalling the most striking creations of fable, 

 the complexity of their organisation, external and 

 internal, their inconceivable industry in the construc- 

 tion of their nests, and the foresight which they 

 manifest in their self-defence, all teach us that ento- 

 mology is well worthy of the attention of the observer 

 of nature. 



But it will be said, why devote our attention to 

 objects so minute ? We reply, if the colossal alone 

 be worthy of notice, search elsewhere for the objects 

 of your notice, for here the objects are so small, that 

 the' full stop at the termination of this sentence, is 

 much larger than many of the species. But to the 

 eye of philosophy, what matters colossal size and 

 gigantic expanse? The wisdom of the Creator is 

 concentrated in these minims of creation, in order 

 the better to develope his power ; since in these 

 creatures, whose excessive minuteness renders it 

 difficult, and even impossible, to observe some of 

 them with the unassisted eye, how can we conceive 

 it possible to arrange all the machinery which exists 

 in the bodies of those little creatures, as perfect and 

 as complex as in those of the largest ? The little 

 beetle (Atomaria atomos), and the minute parasitic 

 fly (Mymar moncrs^), although not one-hundredth part 

 of an inch in length, possess precisely the same 

 number of organs, and even of joints of those organs, 

 as their larger brethren of the classes to which 

 they respectively belong. To neglect this portion 

 of the creation is to say, that these living machines, 

 in which the rules of the most perfect mechanical 

 knowledge have been implicitly followed, and of 

 which the various parts are arranged with the utmost 

 art, but which are nevertheless so fine and delicate 

 as to escape our view, are less worthy of regard than 

 the larger machines made precisely upon the same 

 model. Absurd reasoning ! Who does not regard 

 skill of the artificer capable of forming a minute 

 pocket watch with its delicate machinery, as more 

 worthy of notice than that of the workman who can 

 but construct a town clock ? 



Such being the claims which the objects of the en- 

 tomologist's care possess upon his attention, we there- 

 fore proceed in the present article to state the most 

 efficient modes of research, whereby also, the roost 

 satisfactory and pleasing return may be obtained for 

 the toils of investigation, premising that we deem all 

 animals destitute of internal vertebra?, having articu- 

 culated bodies and articulated legs in the perfect 

 state, to be insects ; following, therefore, in the steps 

 of Linnteus and Latreille, we consider Crustacea, 

 Arachnida, Acari, and MijriapMla, as much entitled 

 to the attention of the entomologist, as beetles, bees, 

 or butterflies. Our reasons for this view of the 

 subject, together with a general sketch of the ana- 

 tomy and classification of the whole, will therefore 

 more properly fall under the general article, Insects ; 

 the present article being confined to the preceding 

 remarks upon the general claims of these_minute 

 animals to a share of the notice of the zoologist, to a 

 sketch of the plan of study to be adopted, and to a 

 view of the rise of entomology as a distinct branch of 

 zoological science, from the earliest ages to the 

 present time. 



Entomologists, like the objects of their research, 

 may be classified. First, there is the amateur, whose 

 sole object is the procuring, either by capture or by 

 purchase, of a collection of handsome insects, either 

 to be placed in drawers, without any other arrange- 



ment than that of beauty of colour or size, or in 

 glazed picture-frames to be hung up in his room. 

 This, it is true, is the lowest class of entomologists ; 

 jut the labours of such amateurs are not without 

 pleasure to themselves, and are sometimes serviceable 

 lo the science of entomology. The author of this 

 article, who has been for days confined to the desk 

 in the centre of this vast metropolis, can testify to 

 the delightful sensations with which he has inhaled 

 the breeze upon Shooter's-hill or Wimbledon- com- 

 mon, when on the way to those well-known entomo- 

 logical spots, Dareuth and Coombe Woods ; whilst 

 the best practical collector whom we have ever heard 

 of is Daniel Byddcr, a Spital-fields labourer, by 

 whom some of the most interesting of our English 

 insects were first discovered. And in like manner 

 Joseph Standish, a Brixton cobbler, from a pure love 

 of entomology, taught himself to draw and paint in- 

 sects ; and having followed up this pursuit, during his 

 leisure of many years, he has acquired the art of 

 giving to his figures of moths, a beautiful downy 

 appearance, so like nature, that we have known a 

 volume of his drawings sold for many pounds. Can 

 it be denied that if, amongst the lower classes, the 

 collecting of objects of nature, and such-like pursuits, 

 were more general, the vice of drunkenness and the 

 reign of gin-palaces, would be over? 



It is not, of course, our intention, in this work, to 

 lay down an account of the instruments required, or 

 the modes of collecting insects for the information of 

 the mere collector. These will be found in Kirby 

 and Spence's Introduction, in the " Insect Miscel- 

 lanies ;" or in Mr. Ingpen's little manual devoted to 

 this subject. Suffice it to say, in this place, that 

 when captured and killed, either by immersion in 

 scalding water (as is usually done with beetles) or by 

 being placed in a close small box with bruised laurel 

 leaves (as is very serviceable with flies, moths, &c.), 

 the insect is stuck through one of the wing-cases (if 

 a beetle), or between the wings (if a fly or moth), with 

 a pin proportioned to its size ; the entire collection 

 being preserved in chip-boxes, or in a cabinet of 

 shallow glazed drawers, having the bottom lined with 

 cork and covered with paper. 



Instruments for collecting Insects. 



A The lanre gauze flap net. B, the sweeping or water net. 

 C.lne gluze forceps. 1), the collecting bottle for holding small 

 beetles, &c. E, the breeding cage. 



Various kinds of nets are employed in collecting 

 insects, such as the flap-net, for catching insects 

 on the wing, made of fine gauze, resembling a bat- 

 fowlin- net, and the sweeping net, for catching insects 

 on -rass and low herbage, made of strong canvas, 

 and resembling a landing net. When secured, the 

 insects are either immediately pinned, or carried home 

 oose in quills or glass bottles. After they are killed 

 and pinned, their limbs are arranged in a natural 

 position by means of pins and bits of card, by which 



