2 Insect Architecture. 



to comprehend the phenomena we daily witness, everything 

 in nature is full of instruction. Thus the humblest flower 

 of the field, although, to one whose curiosity has not been 

 excited, and whose understanding has, therefore, remained 

 uninformed, it may appear worthless and contemptible, is 

 valuable to the botanist, not only with regard to its place 

 in the arrangement of this portion of the Creator's works, 

 but as it leads his mind forward to the consideration 

 of those beautiful provisions for the support of vegetable 

 life, which it is the part of the physiologist to study and to 

 admire. 



This train of reasoning is peculiarly applicable to the 

 economy of insects. They constitute a very large and 

 interesting part of the animal kingdom. They are every- 

 where about us. The spider weaves. his curious web in our 

 houses; the caterpillar constructs his silken cell in our 

 gardens ; the wasp that hovers over our food has a nest not 

 far removed from us, which she has assisted to build with the 

 nicest art ; the beetle that crawls across our path is also an 

 ingenious and laborious mechanic, and has some curious 

 instincts to exhibit to those who will feel an interest in 

 watching his movements ; and the moth that eats into our 

 clothes has something to plead for our pity, for he came, 

 like us, naked into the world, and he has destroyed our 

 garments, not in malice or wantonness, but that he may 

 clothe himself with the same wool which we have stripped 

 from the sheep. An observation of the habits of these little 

 creatures is full of valuable lessons, which the abundance of 

 the examples has no tendency to dimmish. The more such 

 observations are multiplied, the more are we led forward to 

 the freshest and the most delightful parts of knowledge ; the 

 more do we learn to estimate rightly the extraordinary pro- 

 visions and most abundant resources of a creative Provi- 

 dence ; and the better do we appreciate our own relations 

 with all the infinite varieties of nature, and our dependence, 

 in comm'on with the ephemeron thnt flutters its little hour 

 in the summer sun, upon that Being in whose scheme of 

 existence the humblest as well as the highest creature has its 



