COLLOQUIA ENTOMOLOGICA. 97 



that brain, precisely in the same manner as the destruction of 

 the trunk of a tree must deprive its branches of vitality ; and 

 sensation, however acutely once possessed, must consequently 

 inevitably cease. 



Erro. Well? 



Ent. I have done. 



Erro. But I cannot let you off so easily. You suppose a 

 fact, of the truth of which you acknowledge you entertain a 

 doubt. You say, *' allowing insects all the acuteness of sen- 

 sation the most tender-hearted would wish," &c. 



Ent. Are you serious ? Deny insects feeling, what have I 

 to disprove ? You are less bright than usual, Roey : but I 

 do deny that insects possess any sensation of pain like that 

 with which we are acquainted ; although, in doing this, I 

 forsake an argument which I trust is incontrovertible. It is 

 useless to dilate to you on the structure of an insect : you 

 know far better than I ; you have proved yourself the indus- 

 trious bee, and have filled your storehouses with knowledge 

 for the good of the hive. I, like the thoughtless butterfly, 

 forsaking labour, gambol idly in the sunny air of science, and 

 now and then stoop to sip its sweetest flowers for my own 

 gratification. Observe for a moment the hard shell of " the 

 shard-borne beetle," and reflect that the exterior of every insect 

 is but a modification of this. The bones may be said completely 

 to envelope the softer, and what would generally be considered 

 the more sensitive parts. But there would be no necessity for 

 sensitive internal parts, except as communicating with sensitive 

 external parts ; and we know that the Almighty has created 

 nothing in vain. We therefore naturally expect to find sen- 

 sation evinced, if evinced at all, on the exterior ; and here we 

 have only a hard resisting substance, uninjured by the severest 

 usage, — our own hair and nails are tender in comparison, — 

 our teeth are of somewhat similar texture. Now, Roey, as 

 you dwell on analogies with such delight, allow me to offer 

 one. Suppose a man enveloped entirely, eyes and all, in a 

 coat like the enamel of one of his teeth, — you cannot imagine 

 him very susceptible of pain ; and a beetle is in precisely a 

 similar case.* 



* The tortoise is a strange connecting link between the vertehrata and annu- 

 losa in structure, and partakes of the peculiar tenacity of life and absence of 

 sensation so observable in the latter. — Ed. 

 NO. I. VOL. I. O 



