228 OBSERVATIONS ON INSECTS. 



all life comes, and who bestows a capacity for enjoy- 

 ing his gifts on the lowest and smallest of his crea- 

 tures, as well as on the highest and most consider- 

 able.* 



I have been a collector of insects, more or less, all 

 my life ; and I have been often struck with the 

 occurrence of some species, occasionally rare ones, 

 in odd situations, or under certain particular circum- 

 stances, and no other. Thus, a small aquatic beetle, 



* If this occurrence is so calculated to impress the mind of the 

 natural observer in this country, we may imagine what it must be in 

 tropical regions, where life is so infinitely more abundant. Hum- 

 boldt has a passage on this subject, which, as bearing closely upon 

 the phenomenon above alluded to, I will here transcribe : 



" How vivid " (he says) " is the impression produced by the 

 calm of nature, at noon, in these burning climates ! The beasts of 

 the forests retire to the thickets ; the birds hide themselves be- 

 neath the foliage of the trees, or in the crevices of the rocks. Yet, 

 amid this apparent silence, when we lend an attentive ear to the 

 most feeble sounds transmitted by the air, we hear a dull vibra- 

 tion, a continual murmur, a hum of insects, that fill, if we may 

 use the expression, all the lower strata of the air. Nothing is 

 better fitted to make man feel the extent and power of organic 

 life. Myriads of insects creep upon the soil, and flutter round the 

 plants parched by the ardour of the sun. A confused noise issues 

 from every bush, from the decayed trunks of trees, from the clefts 

 of the rock, and from the ground undermined by the lizards, mille- 

 pedes, and cacilius. These are so many voices proclaiming to us 

 that all nature breathes; and that, under a thousand different 

 forms, life is diffused throughout the cracked and dusty soil, as 

 well as in the bosom of the waters, and in the air that circulates 

 around us." Pers. Narr. vol. iv. p 505. 



