OF NATURAL HISTORY. % 



redion. By the fmallnefs and convexity of thefe lenfes, which pro- 

 duce the fame effed as the objed glafs of a microfcope, infe£ts are 

 enabled to fee bodies that are too minute to be perceived by the hu- 

 man eye. 



Another peculiarity deferves our notice. No animal, except a. 

 numerous tribe of four-winged infefts, have more than two wings. 



With regard to fex, quadrupeds, birds, and fifhes, are diftinguifh- 

 ed into males and females. But the bee and the ant furnifh ex- 

 amples of neuters, which are abfolutely barren : And the earth- 

 worm, and feveral fhell infedts, are hermaphrodite, each individual 

 pofTeffing the prolific powers of both male and female. 



It is likewife remarkable, that all winged infedls undergo three 

 metamorphofes or changes of form : The egg is difcharged from the- 

 body of the female in the fame manner as in other oviparous ani- 

 mals. By a wonderful inftind:, thefe feemingly ftupid crcatures- 

 uniformly depofit their eggs on fuch animal or vegetable fubftances 

 as furnifh proper food for the worm or caterpillar, that is to be 

 hatched by the heat of the fun. The worm or caterpillar is the firft 

 ftate. The bodies of caterpillars are foft and moift. They have no 

 wings, and are totally deprived of the faculty of generation. After 

 continuing for fome time in this reptile ftate, they are transformed 

 into a chryfalis, which is drier and harder than the caterpillar. The 

 chryfales of fome infedts are naked, and thofe of others are covered 

 with a filken web, fpun by the animals before their change is com- 

 pleted. In this ftate, many of them lie motionlefs, and feemingly 

 inanimate, during the whole winter. When the fpring or fummer 

 heats return, they burft from their laft prifon, and, from vile rep- 

 tiles, are transformed into beautiful flies. In this perfedl ftate they 

 are exceedingly attive, fly about in queft of their mates, and, after 



propagating 



