PREFACE. 



THE present Volume owes its existence to a desire on the part of 

 the Publisher of the British Cyclopaedia of Natural History, that 

 the leading Entomological articles which appeared in that work 

 from my pen should be collected, so as to form a general sketch of 

 the outlines of the science to which they relate. The object of 

 that work was essentially popular, and it was written more espe- 

 cially for the general reader. It was necessary, therefore, not 

 only that the various articles should b divested, as much as pos- 

 sible, of technicality, but also that the attention of the reader 

 should be constantly directed to the uses of organs of which the 

 descriptions were laid before him ; thus not only imparting to the 

 subject a greater degree of interest, than though bare descriptions 

 and technicalities had been given ; but, which was of far higher 

 importance, proving that in all the various formations exhibited 

 by these tribes of animals, an All-wise Creator had bestowed those 

 various structures for the performance, in the most satisfactory 

 manner, of their different functions. 



In re-publishing these various articles, I have met with one 

 difficulty, for which I hope due allowance will be made by the 

 reader. In an Encyclopaedia, the most ample, and generally the 

 most interesting details, are confined to those articles treating of 

 genera and species, to which constant reference is made for the 

 illustration of the more general articles. I have endeavoured, in 

 some degree, to make up for this deficiency, by the introduction of 

 the various orders of insects. 



These two circumstances will, I trust, be considered a sufficient 

 reason for the omission of much valuable matter relative to the 

 anatomy, not only of the Crustacea and Arachnida, but also of the 

 true Insects, of which such ample details have, in these few late 



