i:\SECTS. 77 



the perfumed velvet on which he treads his wings are motion- 

 less, and raised against each other. Now he uncurls his wonderful 

 proboscis, and begins to sip the nectar offered so complacently, 

 till, satisfied, away he flies, and Zephyr's self returning, finds no 

 fold, or crease, or damage done to indicate the robbery com- 

 mitted. Such casual glimpses of Creation's charms are worth 

 whole cabinets of cork and pins. 



But to our subject. Let us first inquire, What is an insect ? 

 In a German vocabulary that happens by accident to be open 

 before us, under the general name of " Insects " we find grouped 

 together the following ill-assorted selection, " Flies, Spiders, 

 Ants, Scorpions, Frogs, Toads, and Lizards." It is, therefore, evi- 

 dent that the word " insect " is made use of in ordinary language 

 in a very vague and indeterminate manner, and applied indis- 

 criminately to very various animals. Linnaeus, it is true, em- 

 ployed it to designate all animals provided with an external 

 skeleton, divided into segments (insccta), in which sense it nearly 

 corresponded to the Cuvierian expression articulata, jointed, and 

 thus included lobsters and crabs, spiders and scorpions, under the 

 same designation. In the restricted sense in which it is now em- 

 ployed, however, it includes only such articulated animals as in 

 their perfect or matured state are recognizable by the following 

 characters, whereby they are distinguished from all other crea- 

 tures. 



The body of an insect is divided into three principal portions, 

 called respectively, the head, the tJiorax, and the abdomen. 



The head contains the apparatus of the mouth, and instruments 

 of the senses, including the antennae or feelers, which are invariably 

 two in number. 



The thorax, formed by the union of three segments of the ske- 

 leton, supports six jointed legs, and generally four, sometimes tn'o 

 li'ings. These last, however, are frequently wanting. 



The abdomen is destitute of legs, and contains the viscera, con- 

 nected with nutrition and reproduction. 



The legs of insects, as above stated, are invariably six in 

 number, one pair being attached to each of the segments of the 

 thorax. Considered separately, each of these legs is made up of 

 several pieces, which well deserve our notice. The first division 

 of the leg, or that in immediate connection with the thorax, is 

 called the hip (coxa), and upon this, as upon a centre, the move- 

 ments of the limbs are performed. To the extremity of the coxa 

 a small moveable piece is attached, called the trochantcr, to which 



