KIRBY AND SPENCE, THE ENTOMOLOGISTS. Vv 
that in proportion to the exact material dimensions of an object, its 
value is to be ascertained ; or if the study of the history of the larger 
animals could be properly followed out by despising and neglecting the 
smaller; or if an entomologist were merely a collector of specimens, 
without ever being led to reason upon and arrive at higher truths than 
those which go no farther than the satisfaction of curiosity ; or, lastly, 
if it were consistent with experience and every-day observation that 
naturalists were unintellectual, unimaginative beings, or men devoid 
of practical wisdom. We might mention many great names in the 
higher walks of poetry and eloquence, or that were most sagacious in 
moral and political philosophy, who were enthusiastic naturalists. But 
a better illustration need not be given than that of Mr. Kirby himself, 
who has lately, in his celebrated Bridgewater Treatise, presented to the 
learned and the religious world two volumes ‘‘ On the Power, Wisdom, 
and Goodness of God as manifested in the Creation of Animals, and in 
their History, Habits, and Instincts.” Mr Spence is also well known 
as the suse? of certain ‘‘ Tracts on Political Economy,” works of very 
considerable merit, and at least evincing a mind and a taste which 
could grapple with such thorny and intricate questions as those con- 
nected with commerce, agriculture, and the corn laws, as freely as 
with moths and butterflies. |The truth is, that it is too late in the day 
for any one now to pronounce any disparaging opinion with regard 
to natural science, no matter what branch be instanced ; and from 
what has already been said, entomology, as treated by our authors, 
must not be quoted as an exception; for by all their labour and minute- 
ness, they guide the attention of their readers “ from Nature up to 
Nature’s God.” 
But to glance at some of the real and practical advantages which 
the study of entomology confers on society, let us consider the injuries 
caused by various insects to the valuable products of the earth, or of 
the land. Many insects, in the state of larve, or maggots, destroy 
wheat, and that in such quantities as to cause serious loss in agricul- 
ture, amounting to many hundred acres in some cases. In America, 
the Hessian fly is one of the most formidable enemies to vegetation 
that can be named. On one occasion it proceeded from Long-Island 
inland, at the rate of 15 or 20 miles a year, till at last it extended over 
a space of 200 miles. Neither mountains nor rivers stopped this tribe ; 
they crossed the Delaware like a cloud, and even filled the houses of 
the inhabitants, injuring or destroying whatever they fastened on, to 
an incalculable amount. Indeed, every sort of grain and vegetable 
growth have their appropriate enemies, or peculiar admirers, if you 
will, among the insect tribes; and a more serviceable or worthy study 
can surely not be set about, than that which tends to guide to a remedy 
for these evils. 
To instance one other insect, and its ravages, let us listen to what 
is said of the ant of Barbadoes, the formica saccharivora, This enemy 
appeared, we learn, above eighty years ago, in such infinite hosts in the 
island of Granada, as to put a stop to the cultivation of the sugar cane. 
A reward of 20,000/. was offered to any one who should discover an 
effectual mode of destroying the vermin, Their numbers were incre- 
