6 LECTURE L 



whose work was then the great depository of na? 

 tural knowledge, and that the figure and descrip- 

 tion there given left a lasting impression on his 

 mind. It must be confessed also that the poet 

 was here deceived by the naturalist. 



A modern writer, having occasion to allude to 

 the dormant state of the Butterfly and Moth tribe, 

 during their period of imperfection, has evidently 

 shewn that he supposed the animal to become a 

 chrysalis after having appeared in its complete or 

 flying state, and has thus entirely inverted or 

 reversed the real progress of the animal. 



" Thus the gay Moth, by sun and vernal gales 



Call'd forth to wander o'er the dewy vales, 



From flower to flower, from sweet to sweet will stray, 



Till, tir'd and satiate with her food and play, 



Deep in the shades she builds her peaceful nest, 



In lov'd seclusion pleas'd at length to rest : 



There folds the wings that erst so widely bore j 



Becomes a household Nymph, and seeks to range no more." 



A curious example of ridiculous ignorance re- 

 lative to such subjects, might be taken from some 

 of the public papers for the month of July 1794, 

 in which we were informed that in the neighbour- 

 hood (I think) of Sheffield, were found (in the 



