INSECT LIFE. 217 



punctures of the manna-fly on the bark of the manna- ash, 

 cause, in a similar manner, a sugary exudation extensively used 

 in medicine. 



Many savage tribes live partly upon insects ; the termites and 

 several of the larger species of ants are considered a delicacy ; 

 and the Bushman and the Bedouin of the desert hail with de- 

 light the approach of the locust-swarms which fill the husband- 

 man with dismay. Insects are also used as ornaments. The 

 golden elytra of the sternocera chrysis serve to enrich the em- 

 broidery of the Indian zenana ; and the ladies in Brazil wear 

 necklaces composed of the green-and-azure wings of lustrous 

 chrysomelid8&, whose brilliancy rivals the costliest gems in beauty. 



Thus the insects gratify in various ways the wants or the 

 vanity of man; and if they frequently prove a source of 

 annoyance or even of loss, it is in many cases only the well- 

 deserved punishment of human cruelty or folly. Thought- 

 lessly he destroys the innocent mole, the devourer of countless 

 grubs the bat, whose eager appetite cleanses the land of moths 

 and cockchafers ; nor does he spare even the lovely songsters 

 of the groves, that not only charm us with their notes, but are 

 constantly at work preventing the dangerous increase of the 

 herbivorous insects. 



Insect life gives us the most convincing proofs not only of 

 the wisdom and power of the Almighty, but also of His ineffable 

 goodness ; for these numberless species, so variously gifted, have 

 all been born for a far greater share of happiness than of sorrow. 

 The pangs of death are generally short a fleeting moment ; 

 while their life, which, at least in the larval state, is frequently 

 prolonged during several years, is almost entirely devoted to 

 agreeable occupations. When a caterpillar is feasting on a 

 succulent leaf, or a bee is sipping the nectar of a flower, they 

 are surely enjoying life ; and who can doubt of the happiness 

 of a swarm of gnats maintaining for hours together their 

 dances in the air, or of the butterfly lightly hovering through 

 the forest-glades in the warm sunshine ? The hum of the beetle 

 and the shrill tone of the cicada, the cricket's chirp, and the 

 buzz of the bee give expression to sensations which are evidently 

 of no gloomy nature ; and as every moderate exertion of our 

 mental or bodily faculties calls forth agreeable feelings, we can 

 be well assured that the rapid course of the tiger-beetle, the 



