INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 23 
us or damage our property, that we first become 
aware of thei existence, and that we feel their 
importance. And then we call im the aid of the 
birds to destroy for us enemies against which we are 
ourselves almost powerless; or of Science to teach 
us to destroy the nidus in which the pest is propa- 
gated. 
The most enthusiastic advocate of the principle 
of non-interference, of the rule of live and let live, 
would hardly demur to the occasional intervention 
of Man, for whose use all these creatures were de- 
signed, as a natural part of the general balance of 
power among animals. It is only a small part, how- 
ever, as concerns insects. And as the dictates of 
philosophers are not always right, and the wants and 
whims of man and woman-kind, which more often de- 
termine which of the smaller animals shall be spared, 
and which: doomed to destruction, are still more 
fallible, it is a comfort to think that man’s power in 
this respect is so limited, and that his decision is not 
final. Otherwise, the subjects of this work would 
long since have shared the fate of the dodo and 
the moa. 
