PREFACE. Vll 



but that mingled in its contents are ingredients foreign and 

 discordant: in other words, that the descriptive may be 

 deemed too highly coloured by the imaginative. So, at 

 first sight, it is not unlikely to appear, to those especially 

 who possess no previous acquaintance with the subject ; but 

 as this is partially unfolded, it may perhaps become apparent 

 that allegoric fable, poetic association, and moral analogy, 

 are no forced productions, btft only the luxuriant growths 

 ( leaf, flower, and fruit,) of that branch of the tree of knowl- 

 edge which belongs to Insect history. 



It may also be noticed that in the still prevalent, though 

 daily lessening, indifference or distaste to members of the 

 Insect race, there exists an obstacle to their general study 

 only to be overcome ^entirely by waging gentle warfare 

 against prejudice, where prejudice is always seated, in the 

 feelings, and not in the understanding. To make Insects 

 objects of liking would seem, therefore, the best preparatory 

 step towards making them subjects of learning; and to 

 accomplish this, the writer has endeavoured to associate 

 them as much as possible with our domestic habits, the 

 summer's stroll, the winter's walk, whilst exhibiting them 

 in their numerous relations with other departments of Na- 



