INSECTS. 299 



conjecture, there is no probability that much satis- 

 factory elucidation will be obtained. They are not, 

 perhaps, important objects of inquiry ; but when 

 we see the extraordinary care and attention that have 

 been bestowed upon this part of creation, our asto- 

 nishment is excited, and forces into action that in- 

 herent desire in our minds to seek into hidden things. 

 In some calm summer's evening ramble, we see the 

 air filled with sportive animated beings : the leaf, 

 the branch, the bark of the tree, every mossy bank, 

 the pool, the ditch, all teeming with animated life, 

 with a profusion, an endless variety of existence ; 

 each creature pursuing its own separate purpose in 

 a settled course of action, admitting of no devia- 

 tion or substitution, to accomplish or promote some 

 ordained object. Some appear occupied in seeking 

 for the most appropriate stations for their own 

 necessities, and exerting stratagems and wiles to 

 secure the lives of themselves or their offspring 

 against natural or possible injuries, with a fore- 

 thought equivalent or superior to reason ; the aim in 

 some others we can little perceive, or, should some 

 flash of light spring up, and give us a momentary 

 glimpse of Nature's hidden ways, immediate dark- 

 ness closes round, and renders our ignorance more 

 manifest. We see a wonderfully-fabricated crea- 

 ture struggling from the cradle of its being, just 

 perfected by the elaboration of months or years, 

 and decorated with a vest of glorious splendour ; 

 it spreads its wings to the light of heaven, and be- 

 comes the next moment, perhaps, with all its mar- 



