306 OF INSECTS IN GENERAL. 



bers that defy all computation : For in nothing does thti 

 immenfity of her works more ftrikingly appear, than in' 

 the infinite number and variety of thofe her fmaller pro- 

 du£lions. 



Entymology, therefore, of all the fciencea, prefents the 

 wideft, field for inveftigation. The number of experi- 

 ments and obfervations neceffary to furnifh a complete 

 hiftory of fo many fmall animals, is not only great ; but 

 the difficulty of making them is aifo immenfe. The 

 number of ideas with which a fliilful botanifl mufl load 

 his memory, before he can acquire an accurate know- 

 ledge of above two thoufand plants, is no doubt great : 

 his tafk, however, bears no proportion to that of the en- 

 tymologill ; for, amidft fo many plants, there is perhaps 

 hardly one that does not furnilh nourishment and an ha- 

 bitation to feveral infefts ; while many, fuch as the oak, 

 afford a retreat for fome hundreds of different fpecies *. 

 Thefe plants, however, are far from being the only abode 

 of infedls ; vaft numbers refide upon the larger animals, 

 whom they continually fuck ; many live upon and de- 

 vour others of their own order. Infinite numbers fpend 

 a part of their lives in the water -, others remain there 

 entirely : The earth fwarms with multitudes ; and the 

 air teems with others, too fmall for the human eye to 

 obferve, and too numerous for the imagination to con- 

 ceive I 



While the numbers of this clafs of the animal king- 

 dom thus exceed all cur powers of conception, its varie- 

 ties are alfo multiplied to a degree that renders a completo 

 difcrimination of them equally impoffible. The different 



fpecies 



* Mem. pour fervir a THift, dcs Infc<5ls, par Reamufc, Tome prii^, 

 page 2. 



