34 SUPPLEMENT ON 



mena have not escaped the observation of the great poet of 

 agriculture — 



" Sspius et tectis penetralibus extulit ova, 

 Angustum ybnKJca terens iter. 



And again, of the bees, he says — 



" Nee vero a stabulis pluvia impendente, recedunt 

 Longius aut credant ccelo adventantibus Euris ; 

 Sed circum tutse sub maenibus urbis aquantur, 

 Excursusque breves tentant. 



But it becomes the less necessary to dwell on the pleasure 

 and profit derivable from this delightful study, as they have 

 been already amply demonstrated by far abler pens than 

 ours; and, as the prej udices which have existed against it, 

 have been considerably dissipated by the zeal and ability of 

 its votaries. For those who cultivate it, it proves an inex- 

 haustible source of instruction, a pleasure of perpetual recur- 

 rence, which may be indulged in to an extreme, without the 

 chance of satiety, or the 'possibility of remorse. Its happy 

 influence can withdraw us from the storms of passion, and 

 console us under the accidents of life, and the reverses of 

 fortune. It elevates the soul above sordid cares and sensual 

 gratifications, to the contemplation of divine power and wis- 

 dom, and the lofty calm of philosophical religion. But it 

 may not be unnecessary to remark, that it is not by a super- 

 ficial study of this, or any other department of the works of 

 nature, that such happy effects can be produced. Those 

 whose exclusive object is amusement, and who take up a work 

 on entomology as they would a romance, will be certain to 

 meet both disappointment and disgust. The pleasure expe-. 

 rienced from this, as well as every other science, is the result 

 of the zeal and assiduity with wliich it is cultivated ; and it 



