LECTURE IX, 



W E are now to direct our attention to a large 

 and various class of beings known by the title 

 of Insects. The characters by which Insects are 

 distinguished from other animals are the following. 

 First, they are furnished with several feet ; never 

 fewer than six, and sometimes with a great many. 

 Secondly their flesh, or the muscular part of their 

 frame, is affixed to the internal surface of their 

 skin, which is generally of a somewhat tough or 

 strong substance, and in many even hard or horny. 

 Thirdly, they breathe, not in the usual manner of 

 the generality of the larger animals, by lungs, or 

 by gills, but by a sort of spiracles or breathing- 

 holes, situated at certain distances along each side 

 pf the body ; and lastly, the head is generally fuiv 



