PREFACE. XIX 



We hope the time is now gone by when a 

 defence of any department of natural history is 

 necessary. Should any one ask what is the use 

 of the pursuit, we would answer, first, that in 

 a contemplation of the many wonders which 

 present themselves, even in the study of 

 Butterflies, Sphinges, and Moths, there will 

 be found much to excite our admiration, and 

 sufficient to shew us that a knowledge of their 

 history enables us to guard against the ravages of 

 some of the destructive species. It also enables 

 us to turn the produce of others to highly useful 

 purposes, and even to give employment to tens 

 of thousands of our fellow men. But a consi- 

 deration, of a still higher kind than its palpable 

 utility, recommends the study of Nature to 

 mankind: it is an inexhaustible source of rational 

 and innocent amusement, and a delightful 

 exercise of our reasoning faculties. In surveying 

 the wondrous works of Creation, even in the 

 simplest of forms, we are naturally led to admit 

 the truth of the maxim, that " the contemplation 

 of Nature raises the mind up to Nature's God." 

 There can hardly remain a doubt, that all His 



