MOTH MECHANICS. 229 



general, because even in their very ravages, wherein they 

 feed themselves for the support of other creatures, they are 

 made subservient to upholding the universal government of 

 creation ; and particular, because, in a very remarkable de- 

 gree, their every proceeding has for its object the conserva- 

 tion of their kind ; or, to speak more accurately, because all 

 their doings, in obedience to this common law of nature, are 

 so strikingly adapted to fulfil it. 



This principle of conservatism is carried out by moth cater- 

 pillars in a multitude of ingenious works, wherein, according 

 to their species, or rather according to their varied exigencies, 

 they become artificers or operatives, capable of being distin- 

 guished by distinct denominations, correspondent with many 

 of those which are applied to human occupations. 



We believe it was Eeaumur, who, with the lively fancy of 

 his nation and character, first thought of arranging these 

 caterpillars, as well as some of the solitary workers among 

 wasps and bees, into the several crafts of "Stone-masons/ 7 

 "Carpenters," " Tent-makers," " Muff-makers," " Flask- 

 makers," and "Miners;" each of these mechanics exercising, 

 in addition to his particular art, that of the weaver, common 

 to them all ; from the silk worm first manufacturer of royal 

 robes down to -the tiny grub of the clothes r -moth, making, 

 as we have seen, its own little body-coat, either from wool or 

 from the produce of its cousin's labour. 



With respect to the solidity, if not the ingenuity of his 



