350 



j) ai Natural 



children. To these her valued miniatures 

 she has given the most delicate touch and 

 highest linish of her pencil. Numbers she 

 has armed with glittering mail, which re- 

 flects a lustre like that of burnished metals ; 

 in others she lights up the dazzling radiance 

 of polished gems : some she has decked with 

 what looks like liquid drops, or plates of 

 gold and silver ; or with scales or pile, which 

 mimic the colour and emit the ray of the 

 same precious metals. Some exhibit a rude 

 exterior, like stones in their native state ; 

 while others represent their smooth and 

 shining face after they have been submitted 

 to the tool of the polisher : others, again, 

 like so many pigmy Atlases bearing on 

 their backs a microcosm, by the rugged and 

 various elevations and depressions of their 

 tuberculated crust, present to the eye of the 

 beholder no unapt imitation of the unequal 

 surface of the earth, now horrid with mis- 

 shapen rocks, ridges, and precipices now 

 swelling into hills and mountains, and now 

 sinking into valleys, glens, and caves ; while 

 not a few are covered with branching spines, 

 which fancy may form into a forest of 

 trees. . . . The sight indeed of a well-stored 

 cabinet of Insects will bring before every 

 beholder not conversant with them, forms 

 in endless variety, which before he would 

 not have thought it possible could exist in 

 nature, resembling nothing that the other 

 departments of the animal kingdom ex- 

 hibit, and exceeding even the wildest fic- 

 tions of the most fertile imagination." 



Before we close this article, we beg leave 

 to quote from Mr. Newman's work on " The 

 History of Insects," the following brief but 

 admirable summary : " The senses of in- 

 sects are, properly speaking, seven : love, 

 touch, taste, smell, hearing, sight, and the 

 commanding and governing sense, called 

 volition, mind, thought, or instinct. Love 

 is that sense which ensures obedience to the 

 great command, ' Increase and multiply : ' 

 its gratification seems the great object of an 

 insect's life, after having arrived at matu- 

 rity : its seat is in the organs of generation. 

 Touch is a most invaluable sense to insects ; 

 they have two antennae and four feelers 

 attached to the mouth, which appear pro- 

 vided purposely for the exercise of this 

 sense : the tarsi are also employed to ascer- 

 tain qualities by touch ; but the other parts 

 of the body appear insensible to feeling, 

 either as regards the ascertaining of qua- 

 lities or the sensation of pain. Taste is un- 

 doubtedly possessed by insects in an eminent 

 degree ; and they seem to have the same 

 preferences for animal or vegetable food 

 which are evinced by vertebrated animals. 

 Smell appears to be the sense by which in- 

 sects are led to discover strongly-scented 

 substances at a great distance, where it is 

 quite impossible that sight should aid them ; 

 its seat, however, is wholly unknown. Hear- 

 ing seems also to be possessed by insects, or 

 to what purpose would the merry cricket 

 sing his evening song, if there were none of 

 his kind to listen to and admire it ? The 

 seat of this sense is also wholly unknown. 

 Sight is a sense of which we have abundant 

 evidence ; it is seated in two large compound 



eyes, often occupying nearly the whole 

 head, and also occasionally in three minute 

 simple eyes, situated in a triangle on the 

 crown of the head. The mind of insects is 

 more wonderful than our own : it has 

 neither speculation, retention, judgment, 

 nor power ; it is, in fact, an existence which 

 comes perfect from the Creator : the new- 

 born bee is perfectly mistress of architec- 

 ture ; she is heaven-instructed : the mind is 

 not only the ruling sense, but is a distinct 

 immaterial element." 



INSECTIVORA. The fourth Order of 

 of Mammiferous animals, comprising the 

 Shrews, Hedgehogs, Moles, &c. As the name 

 denotes, they subsist principally on insects, 

 worms, &c. In general they lead a noc- 

 turnal and subterranean life ; and in cold 

 countries most of them pass the winter in a 

 torpid state. Their legs are short, and in 

 running they place the entire sole of the 

 foot upon the ground. There is great va- 

 riety in the front teeth of the animals be- 

 longing to this Order ; in some the canine 

 teeth are longer than the incisors, while in 

 others the canines are very small or entirely 

 wanting. The Order is naturally divided 

 into those with simple fore legs, and those 

 in which the fore legs are peculiarly fitted 

 for digging. The first division comprises 

 the Hedgehogs, the Tenrecs or Madagascar 

 Hedgehogs (which have the muzzle very 

 long, and have not the power of rolling 

 themselves into a ball), the Shrews, and the 

 Desmans (Sorex moschatus), a curious tribe 

 of aquatic animals, with webbed feet, and 

 the nose so much prolonged as to look like 

 a proboscis. The second division comprises 

 the Moles, the Shining or Cape Moles (the 

 only quadrupeds whose fur has a metallic 

 gloss), the Radiated Moles, and the Scalops 

 or Shrew Mole of the United States. [See 

 MOLE : HEDGEHOG : SHREW, &c. 



INSESSORES. The name given by Mr. 

 Vigors to a most extensive order of Perching 

 Birds ; in which are comprehended all those 

 tribes which live habitually among trees, 

 with the exception of the birds of prey and 

 the climbing birds. In all the true Inses- 

 sorial Birds, the toes are three before and 

 one behind. The adaptation of the foot of 

 this order to grasping or perching is evident 

 from the situation of the hinder toe ; which 

 is invariably placed on the same level with 

 those in front ; and by which they are dis- 

 tinguished from the Gallinaceous and 

 Wading Birds. The toes are slender, flex- 

 ible, and of moderate length, with long, 

 slender, and slightly curved claws ; of which 

 the foot of the Canary affords a very good 



example. The birds of this order are ge- 

 nerally on the wing ; and we accordingly 

 find that, in proportion as the legs are small 



and weak, the wings are highly developed. 

 The male is nearly always larger than the 

 female, and is more distinguished for the 

 brilliancy of his plumage. The Perchers 

 live in pairs, and construct their nests, usu- 

 ally in trees, bushes, &c., with great art. 

 This order is divided, by the form of the 

 beak, into four subordinate groups ; namely 

 1. Canirostres, or conical-billed birds ; 



