ALPHABET OF INSECTS. 



THE WORD INSECT. 



THE first thing to be learned on beginning to 

 study the branch of Natural History of which I shall 

 here treat, is to know how an insect differs from other 

 animals. 



The -word Insect means "cut into," and every in- 

 sect accordingly appears with divisions as if cuts had 

 been made in the body ; one just behind the head, 

 and another behind the corselet, as may be seen in a 

 bee or a fly ; and the whole body besides is composed 

 of rings, and it is on this account only that modern 

 writers use the term insect. 



These cuts divide the body of an insect into three 

 parts, the head, the corselet, and the abdomen ; and 

 any animal in which these parts are not found distinct 

 is not an insect. Consequently a spider, awoodlouse, 

 a shrimp, or a crab, is not an insect, because none of 

 these have more than two of the divisions; while 

 the earthworm, the leach, the snail, the slug, and 

 the oyster, are not insects, because they have none of 

 these divisions distinct. 



