CHAPTER XIV 



THE MICROSCOPE AND INSECT LIFE 



SOME of our readers will probably remark that 

 entomology, or the natural history of insects, 

 is really a branch of zoology and should be 

 treated as such. We cannot pretend that they are 

 wrong, but it is such a specialized branch that it 

 merits separate treatment. Not many years ago 

 insects, with few exceptions, were looked upon as 

 harmless and often beautiful dwellers upon the earth. 

 They afforded endless amusement to certain enthusi- 

 asts who collected them for their colouring or their 

 odd forms. Recent developments of our scientific 

 knowledge have shown us that the insect is, other 

 human beings excepted, man's most serious rival for 

 the mastery of the world. 



This state of affairs has been beautifully depicted 

 by an American naturalist; his words described a 

 by no means unlikely final scene on this earth of 

 ours. He wrote : " When the moon shall have 

 faded from the sky and the sun shall shine at noon- 

 day, a dull cherry red, and the seas shall be frozen 

 over, and the ice-cap shall have crept downward 



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