2S4 Mr, Skene on the Emigration of Caterpillars, 



in the mode of preserving vegetable productions. The pray- 

 ers and the wishes of their friends, and of every friend to 

 science, will accompany these able and intrepid investigators. 

 Some idea may now be formed of the extent and value of 

 the collections which will be obtained, and we are confident 

 that such arrangements will be made as will secure to every 

 botanist the credit of his respective discoveries. We think 

 then, that these should be destined for the foundation of a 

 Flora of the British Possessions in North America ; which, 

 if no individual more competent to the task presents himself, 

 the writer of the present article will not shrink from under- 

 taking; and this he offers to do the more readily, since some 

 of the most effectual aid has already, and unsolicited, been 

 offered to him. 



ENTOMOLOGY. 



AxLT. IX. — On the Emigration of a Colony of Caterpil- 

 lars^ observed in Provence. From the MS, Tour of 

 James Skene, Esq. of Rubieslaw.f 



In scrambling over one of the arid coteaux above Tolonai, 

 the beautiful summer residence of our worthy old friend, 

 Marshal Comte Gallifet, I was attracted by the manoeuvres 

 of a troop of emigrating insects, which amused me very much. 

 It is very easy to attribute the singular economy in the ac- 

 tions of the insect world to the mere influence of instinct, as 

 the governing principle of every living thing below the scale 

 of reason ; but we must either extend the meaning of that 

 word beyond the mere actions of an involuntary impulse, or 

 find it fall short of explaining much of what may be observed 

 in the operations even of that lowest tribe of creatures. We 

 readily lavish our admiration on the wonderful arrangements 

 of some tribes, whose operations may be more particularly 

 exposed to our scrutiny, but this may arise fully more from 

 our deficiency of observation or opportunity, than from the 



* This is probably the Phalsena processionea of Linnaeus. 



f From Dr. Brewster's Edinburgh Journal of Science, No. III. p. 93. 



