250 POPULAR ENTOMOLOGY. 



them to rank with the far-famed Beaver in architectural 

 capability. On this subject mnch interesting and valuable 

 information may be gained from a work devoted to its 

 delineation, in which the reader will find fresh proofs of the 

 instinct so largely bestowed on these little workmen.* 



I cannot close this short, and necessarily imperfect 

 account of the insect tribes, whose extreme beauty of form 

 and colour entitles them to universal admiration, in a more 

 suitable manner than with these beautiful lines, so descrip- 

 tive of their habits and loveliness : 



" Child of the sun, pursue thy rapturous flight, 

 Mingling with her thou lov'st in fields of light ; 

 And, where the flowers of Paradise unfold, 

 Quaff fragrant nectar from their cups of gold ; 

 There shall thy wings, rich as an evening sky, 

 Expand and shut with silent ecstasy. 

 Yet wert thou once a worm a thing that crept 

 On the bare earth, then wrought a tomb and slept. 

 And such is man : soon from his cell of clay 

 To burst a seraph in the blaze of day." 



* Bennie, "Insect Architecture." 



