592 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



live on them, and thus preserve the balance in the economy of 

 nature's laws. They are generally repulsiv^e, cause fear, and 

 create anxiety in proportion to our ignorance, but still they are 

 nearly all perfectly inoffensive. We call them little insignificant 

 things, yet their insignificance is infinity — they constitute a world 

 inconceivably powerful. Who has not gazed on the mighty ocean 

 at night, when illuminated with billions of imperceptible animal- 

 cules 1 Who, after enjoying such a scene, is not filled with admi- 

 ration and amazement at the mighty fecundity of nature. Think 

 of the mollucs, who are neither more nor less than the construc- 

 tors of the world we inhabit; they, as agents of the Deity, have 

 prepared with their remains the soil we cultivate. They have 

 passed by decomposition into the state of marble or limestone, 

 and constitute the basis of a large portion of the crust of the earth. 

 The smallest creatures in existence have produced the greatest 

 results. The thezopode, invisible to the naked eye, has raised a 

 monument to itself, consisting of Central Italy, and a large pro- 

 portion of the Appenines, and a large portion of the vast Cordillera 

 of the Andes. It w^ould require one hundred and eighty millions 

 of these insects to weigh a grain. In our times we know that the 

 calcareous polypi, corals and madrepores, create islands, nay, 

 whole archipelagoes. There is nothing but beneficence and wis- 

 dom in the usual manifestations of insects, if properly understood. 

 Even the persecution of our domestic animals by flies, constitutes 

 one of the principles of their safety. If these little persecutors 

 did not thus stimulate them, they would remain in a stupid and re- 

 signed state until death overtook them. But driven by flies, they 

 seek running waters, and thus reach salubrious places. Nature 

 provides the tsetse for some similar and judicious purpose. The 

 dragon fly and cicendelse destroy thousands of destructive insects 

 daily. There are other auxiliaries to agricultural pursuits, tliat 

 man makes war upon; the worms wdiich cleanse, digest and 

 renew the soil, and the necrophori, that are ever engaged in re- 

 moving putridity. 



Gardeners are frequently exasperated on finding insects in their 

 dahlia roots, when tliey are really there to remove the dead and 

 diseased parts. It would be exceedingly advantageous to all per- 



