272 Insect Architecture. 



attention was called to them in particular, by the constant 

 passing of such a number as to constitute something like a 

 little stream ; and I was led to search into the object of their 

 direct flight, as in general it is irregular and seemingly 

 inquisitive. I soon found that they dropped on some recent 

 nuisance : but what powers of perception must these crea- 

 tures possess, drawn from all distances and directions by the 

 very little fetor which, in such a calm evening, could be 

 diffused around, and by what inconceivable means could 

 odours reach , this beetle in such a manner as to rouse so 

 inert an insect into action ! But it is appointed one of the 

 great scavengers of the earth, and marvellously endowed 

 with powers of sensation, and means of effecting this pur- 

 pose of its being. Exquisitely fabricated as it is to receive 

 impressions, yet probably it is not more highly gifted than 

 any of the other innumerable creatures that wing their way 

 around us, or creep about our paths, though by this one 

 perceptible faculty, thus * dimly seen,' it excites our wonder 

 and surprise. How wondrous then the whole ! 



" The perfect cleanliness of these creatures is a very 

 notable circumstance, when we consider that nearly their 

 whole lives are passed in burrowing in the earth, and re- 

 moving nuisances ; yet such is the admirable polish of their 

 coating and limbs, that we very seldom find any soil ad- 

 hering to them. The meloe, and some of the scarabsei, upon 

 first emerging from their winter's retreat, are commonly 

 found with earth clinging to them ; but the removal of this 

 is one of the first operations of the creature ; and all the 

 beetle race, the chief occupation of which is crawling about 

 the soil, and such dirty employs, are, notwithstanding, 

 remarkable for the glossiness of their covering, and freedom 

 from defilements of any kind. But purity of vesture seems 

 to be a principal precept of Nature, and observable through- 

 out creation. Fishes, from the nature of the elen.ent in 

 which they reside, can contract but little impurity. Birds 

 are unceasingly attentive to neatness and lustration of their 

 plumage. All the slug race, though covered with slimy 

 matter calculated to collect extraneous things, and reptiles, 



