THE CHRISTIAN NATURALIST. 117 



hieroglyphic symbols, or inscribes them with the cha- 

 racters of various languages ; and what is more extra- 

 ordinary, she has registered in others figures which 

 correspond with several dates of the Christian sera. 

 Again, to some nature has given fins like those of fish, 

 or a beak like that of birds ; to others horns ; the bull, 

 the stag, the rhinoceros, and even the unicorn have in 

 this respect many representatives among insects,' 



* Insects also,' says this writer, ' may with very little 

 violence be regarded as symbolical of beings out of and 

 above nature. The butterfly, adorned with every beauty 

 and every grace, borne by radiant wings through the fields 

 of ether, and extracting nectar from every flower, gives 

 us some idea of the blessed inhabitants of happier 

 worlds ; of angels, and the spirits of the just arrived 

 at their state of perfection. Again, others seem emble- 

 matical of a diflferent class of our earthly beings, when 

 we survey their horns, spines, &c. the dens of dark- 

 ness in which they live, the impurity of their food, 

 their cruelty, the nets they spread, and the pits they 

 sink to entrap the unwary, we can scarcely help regard- 

 ing them as aptly symbolizing evil demons, the enemies 

 of man, for their crimes and vices driven from the 

 regions of light into darkness and punishment.' 



