

THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



181 



In con- 



^ * exempt w numerous large iron stoves and 

 90 ZSmZ which have proved useless for the well- 

 #S?SitB, on account of the limited amount of 

 b 3Uon usuallv provided in such buildings. 

 f0 ^ c f the reduction of price in all the materials 

 *S«ed in erections for the growth of plants, it cannot 

 0¥"J*i i— fere ^ draw the attention of amateurs 

 mm*™ , ^r understanding as they do very little 

 wot the subject, they should insist on abundant means 

 knitting air being provided ; unless provision for this 

 * *X w hen the buildings are first erected, consider- 



jfc difficulty 

 prh extra e: 

 with a little 



•ode 



It ooi of pia 

 »thtf 



two jointed appendages called antennae ; furnished in the 

 perfect, and generally in the early states, with six 

 jointed legs, and subject to a series of raoultings, pre- 

 viously to arriving at perfection, whereby wings [are 

 ordinarily developed. 



frequently 



been obviated. Any 



Sgjd the mere glass frame work. I would, therefore, 

 Soon amateurs against being seduced by cheap 

 -^houses. Pkarch 





WHAT IS AN INSECT ? 



We must now confine our attention to those animals 

 which are destitute of an internal back-bone, and have 

 to body divided into a series of joints, with a nervous 

 -jiem consisting of a double thread united at certain 

 fc£nces by knots or ganglions. 



Amongst these animals a first division consists of 

 loch species as are, throughout their whole lives, desti- 

 tute of jointed legs, with the body, in the majority, soft, 

 aore or less elongated, and always divided into a great 

 number of rings (whence the division is named Annelida, 

 ftom the latin annellus, a little ring). The first segment 

 <rf the body, or the head, scarcely differs from the rest, 

 except in bearing the parts of the mouth and other 

 o^ans of the senses, and the blood is generally of a red 

 adour. Nearly all these Annelidans live in water, some 

 krrowing in the sand or other matters at the bottom, 

 or else constructing a tubular calcareous case within 

 which they reside, and of which the material is emitted 

 from their own bodies. The earth-worm and the leech 

 are two of the best known examples of this great 

 division, of which the number of marine species is 

 considerable ; of the latter, the sea-mouse (Aphrodita 

 aculeate), is remarkable for the numerous bundles of 

 sharp-pointed bristles and soft silken hairs on its back, 

 exhibiting the most brilliant metallic tints. Although, 

 however, it is the chief character of this division to be 

 destitute of jointed legs, it does not, therefore, follow 

 that all legless articulated animals are Annelidans ; the 

 nut-grub, the cheese-hopper, the bee-maggot, and very 

 many other real insects v are destitute of legs in their 

 joung state, although these organs are subsequently 

 fully developed. So also there are a few insects which 

 even in the perfect state are destitute of legs, but in 

 their young state they possessed those organs. Such are 

 the females of the scale insects and the female stylops ; the 

 males, however, of these insects are furnished with fully 

 sveloped legs. Hence it is not easy at first to dis- 

 tinguish between a real Annelidan and the worm-like 

 young states of some insects ; and, indeed, one of the 

 latter has been mistaken by one of our best British 

 naturalists for an Annelidan, and described as a new 

 genus belonging to that division. Had the examination 

 of such an animal been continued, it would have been 

 ascertained that it subsequently underwent a series of 

 transformations, by which not only legs but wings also 

 were produced. 



We have now, therefore, found that the presence of 

 jointed legs at some period of its existence forms a 

 wither limitation to our inquiry— What is an insect ? 



] *~n ani ^ als which Possess this character of articu- 

 lated legs have indeed been considered by some writers, 

 including Linnaeus himself, as constituting a distinct 

 ws, to the whole of which he applied the name insecta, 

 «t although a lobster or a centipede is as truly insected, 

 m is, divided into segments, as the wasp or the beetle, 

 «e ordinary idea of the word insect rejects them from 

 tos class. Let us then endeavour to discover what is 

 w popular idea of an insect. 



v In the "New World of English Words," a scientific 

 ^onary published in 1658, we find "insect" de- 

 toed as " the smallest sort of animal, as a fly, bee, or 

 £t 5 some think them to be so called, because they 

 T** j™* of division or section between the head and 

 «e belly." Dr. Johnson, in his Dictionary, gives two 

 iQotations in illustration of the word insect ; one from 



aST" 1 '! ™ 161 ^ "asking small or contemptible;" 



«"une other from Locke—" Insects are so called from 



aeration in the middle of their bodies, whereby they 



l\JL Qtintotwo parts, which are joined together by a small 



is on> ' ** * e See in the was P s and com mon flies." It 

 idea 2t T imt from these aenniti ™s that no precise 

 view for ltself to the word in a P°P ular point of 

 *W r th^ t0 the 8ma11 size of ksects, many species are 

 as to ti S ° me birds or even quadrupeds ; and 

 body th» separation in the middle of the 



entire orl are thousands of real insects, and indeed 

 the term • i^ hleh have the bod > r continuous ; besides, 



«Wonin\i mp ?i not onl y an animal with a dee P in " 

 *e whnfe T middle > but also a series of notches along 



Wk unl I ° f its bod ^ We must therefore fall 



Pont»s of. « , scientific characters of the different 



1 order + ™* lated animals provided with jointed legs, 



** term i„ d 4 et 1 ermme the precise divisions to which 



Sowiv 6l0ngS > aS weU as its limits - 



8v to be 'P ° ne admitS the bee > *?> beetle > and butter - 



f *owi ng chScJ aU ° f WhiCh agree in P° ssessin S the 



> b ^Sl^ animals brea * hin g ^ means of a series of 



^ CUnal *»**», having the head distinct, bearing 



The Rose Chaffer, with its larva. 



These characters (making due allowance for the few 

 exceptions which are found against one or other of 

 them) define an immense group of animals which are at 

 once distinguished from all the rest of the Invertebrates 

 by possessing organs of flight, and in which, as Pro- 

 fessor Owen observes, * the highest problem of animal 

 mechanics is solved, and the entire body and its ap- 

 pendages can be lifted from the ground, and be pro- 

 pelled through the air." It will, however, be observed 

 that I have purposely modified the last character, in 

 order to include amongst the true insects two groups of 

 small extent which do not acquire wings, namely, the 

 six-legged spring-tailed insects (Thysanura) and the lice 

 (Anoplura), which are rejected by those authors who 

 consider the possession of wings as the grand charac- 

 teristic of insects. 



The articulated animals which possess more than 

 six jointed legs in the perfect state, but which are desti- 

 tute of wings, are very varied in their structure ; and 

 instead of forming, with the spring-tails and lice, a 

 single order, Aptera, as in the arrangement of Linnseus 

 it has been found necessary, now that their internal 

 anatomy has been more thoroughly investigated, to 

 divide them into three different classes, the first of which 

 (and occasionally a portion of the second) have been re- 

 garded by some authors as properly referable to the 

 same group as the winged insects, on account of the 

 similarity in their respiratory apparatus. If, however 

 we do not restrict the term insect to the winged, or at 

 all events to the six-legged species, I consider that we 

 ought to follow Linnaeus, and extend it to the whole of 

 the Invertebrates with jointed legs. These three wing- 

 less classes are : 



pair of leg-like instruments, varying considerably in 

 size, and forming a large pair of claws in the scorpions. 1 



3. Crustacea ; composed of the crabs, lobsters, 

 shrimps, &c, characterised by having the head 

 generally confounded with the thorax, furnished with 

 antennae, respiring by gills, placed at the sides of the 

 body, furnished with five pairs of legs in the more con- 

 spicuous species, the fore pair forming large claws ; 

 the mouth, consisting of a number of pairs of lateral 

 jaws, two pairs of which, in the shore-fleas (Amphipoda} 

 and wood and fish-lice (Isopoda) are so much enlarged 

 as to act as two additional pairs of legs. The common 

 wood-lice are instances of this seven-legged division, 

 which approach the nearest to our ordinary notions of 

 real insects. 



The characters which we have laid down above, refer 

 in general to the perfect state of the different animals ; 

 but the winged insects undergo a most remarkable series 

 of transformations, and in the earlier stages it is not 

 easy at once to determine whether some of them are 

 insects or not. Our next paper will therefore be devoted 

 to the subject of insect transformations. /. 0. W. 



BRITISH SONG BIRDS. 



(Cage Birds, No. 6.*) 



No. XXII. As many inexperienced persons meet 

 with repeated vexations, either in losing their young 

 birds when hatched, or in having the eggs forsaken by 

 the parent birds, during the process of incubation, I will 

 very plainly show the reason, and provide the remedy. 



Any person who will take the trouble of thinking, and 

 reasoning on the subject, must be struck with the folly 

 generally exhibited in putting up birds to breed from, 

 themselves only a year old ! That the hens do lay, and 

 that their eggs are sometimes fruitful, I grant ; but the 

 giddiness of the parents, their inattention to their young, 

 and want of experience generally, — are constant causes 

 of their first and second broods dying in their infancy. 



No birds should be paired until they are at least two 

 years old. From that period they may be said to be in 

 full vigour, and instinctively qualified for the perpetua- 

 tion of their race. You will find the hens, at this age, 

 less fickle in their attachments, and more devotedly 

 affectionate to the husband of their choice. There will 



they will 

 hatching 

 constant 

 All these 





Various species of Snake Millepedes. 



1. Myriapoda ; comprising the centipedes and milli- 

 pedes, distinguished by an elongated body formed of a 

 great number of segments, a distinct head bearing two 

 antennse, a great number of jointed legs, extending the 

 whole length of the body, respiring by two principal 

 trachese or lateral air-tubes, and numerous breathing 

 pores, and with the eyes composed of a number of small 

 separate globules. 



Garden Mites, natural size, and magnified, 



2. Arachnida ; consisting of spiders, scorpions, mites, 

 &c, all of which possess in the perfect state four pairs 

 of legs, the head not distinct from the body, and not pro- 



be but one common feeling between them ; 

 share jointly the solicitude attendant on the 

 and rearing of a family, and the male will be 

 in feeding his partner as she sits on the nest 

 points are essentially to be regarded. 



The next consideration will be, how to breed your 

 birds perfectly pure. Having once procured a good 

 " stock," your anxiety for the future will be removed. If 

 you wish to have birds of a brilliant or " gay n plumage, 

 let both parents be of a clear and uniform yellow, free 

 from all foul feathers. If any be visible, the breed will 

 be impure. If you select a Belgian canary, let it be a 

 Jonque male bird only, and associate with him a Norwich 

 or a Yorkshire hen. The Belgian hens, although good 

 mothers, are yet of so large and so long a body, that 

 they sit awkwardly upon the nest, and find great diffi- 

 culty in hatching their eggs. This remark applies, how- 

 ever, more particularly to a breeding-cage. If the birds 

 are in a room, and build in a tree, the objection I make 



will be over-ruled. 



Such persons as are not particular with regard to 

 colour, will find that the grey canaries breed as well, or 

 perhaps better than most others. They are assuredly 

 the best nurses. But whatever colour you choose, take 

 special care to select birds of the largest and longest 

 feathers you can get, and let them be in robust health. 

 A sickly parent, father or mother, will produce a puny, 

 degenerate offspring. In selecting a pair of English 

 canaries, let the hen be the larger of the two, so that 

 her eggs may be the better covered. The heat imparted 

 from the body of the mother, is twice as great as that 



from the father. 



When a pair of canaries have the misfortune to 



iC addle n their first nest of eggs, which, notwithstanding 

 great attention on their part, will sometimes be the case, 

 you will find it will teach them a practical lesson. They 

 will speedily go to nest a second time, and most pro- 

 bably hatch every egg, and rear every one of their 

 offspring. Some males are steady, and good to breed 

 from, when a year old ; but the hens should never be 

 put up until in their second or third year. 



The late Sir John Sebright, in a pamphlet on the 

 " Instinct of Animals," maintains that u acquired habits 

 in animals become hereditary." I incline strongly to 

 the same opinion. Long experience goes far to confirm 

 its truth. If this be the case — and why not? — when you 

 observe any bird of a particularly quiet and amiable 

 disposition, set him aside ; and provide him a mate in 

 whom are observable equally good qualities. I can call 

 to mind several instances, in which I have witnessed 

 good results from this course of action. I cannot go so 

 far as to say, that I think a bird's vocal powers are 

 hereditary. * That is purely apocryphal. In all 

 points, the doctrine holds good. It is a gre*^ object 

 gained, to have lively, healthy, good-tempered, well- 

 formed, and handsomely-feathered birds , and I advise 

 that, under no circumstances, should canaries be put up 



Woodlice, with the limbs magnified. 



vided with antennse, or compound eyes, respiring by 

 air sacs or lungs ; the mouth generally furnished with a 



other 



* I am urgently entreated, to let the soft-biUed birds follow 

 next in order, after the M Canary f reserving my remarks on 

 the rest of the family of hard-Wed birds until the former shall 

 have been fully disposed of. 1'be request is reasonable ; and it 

 arises from the fact of the migratory birds being about to 

 revisit us in a few weeks, as well as from a generally-entertained 

 wish to know their habits, and proper mode ot treatment on 

 their arrival. Be it so. That kin? of song, that harbinfer 

 of spring-*** Nightingale, shall herald in "No. XI" to appear 

 May Zrd, 



