4 NATUKE'S CABINET. 



No inquisitive mind need complain of any want of keys for 

 the simple opening of that drawer in Nature's cabinet (a 

 drawer of gems) which has been labelled " Entomology." Of 

 these there are an abundance, gilded ke} r s of popular, as 

 well as iron keys of scientific manufacture, but the still pre- 

 vailing want is an incitement to place them in the lock. The 

 works of Kirby and Spence, Eennie and Jardine, Burmeister 

 and Westwood, may be said to furnish, pre-eminently, the 

 gilded, or, with reference to their intrinsic worth, the golden 

 keys in question ; but seeing how generally even these are left 

 ; to tarnish oaotlje; sjielf, something would seem to be required 

 as" an incentive^ to* their more frequent handling. 



; r j)-b& 7ridst pjisyojent feeling about Insects, except, perhaps, 

 the " busy people " of the hive or the "painted populace " of 

 the garden, is that of indifference, if not distaste ; and who of 

 the multitude thus ignorantly prepossessed, would seek for 

 books strictly devoted to their history, or believe that they 

 could find interest in the mere relation of their instincts, 

 however pleasantly detailed ? 



The first anxiety of a writer is, as all the world knows, to 

 establish a kindly sympathy between himself and his readers ; 

 but how can this be speedily created betwixt one who, as an 

 Entomologist, would seem to think of nothing but Insects, and 

 " the many " who have always regarded them as below a passing 

 thought? "With even a slight knowledge, once acquired, of 

 their wondrous ways, the latter will be induced to a confession 



