260 GRAMMAR OF ENTOMOLOGY. 



himself thus : Insects are wonderfully and beau- 

 tifully made ; they appear equal, often superior, 

 in structure and in powers to any other work of 

 the great Creator ; he, moreover, in their unac- 

 countable instincts, appears directly to guide the 

 actions of each without the medium of reason or 

 memory. How can these beings, thus so imme- 

 diately under the care of the Creator, be too 

 insignificant for me to notice ? 



836. It is further objected against the ento- 

 mologist, by those who would allow there is 

 something worth consideration in this query, that 

 he unnecessarily takes away animal life ; that he 

 causes unnecessary pain ; and that the pursuit is 

 altogether hardening to the heart. 



837. As to taking life : we meet with few 

 individuals in common life but would consider it 

 a pleasant and praiseworthy action to tread on a 

 worm in his garden, or to crush a wasp or a spider 

 in his window, and this for the avowed sake of 

 his personal convenience ; an entomologist might 

 take the lives of the same beings for his personal 

 gratification in a scientific view ; surely, self being 

 the object in both instances, the charge of cruelty 

 is equally applicable to each. 



838. But let us go farther : the common de- 

 stroyer has heard of some wonderful mischief done 

 by the worm, the wasp, and spider ; he therefore 

 kills as many as possible. The entomologist 

 knows their history ; he knows they do much 



