STATE ZOOLOGIST. 215 



When it became known that sealing-wax, amber, and other 

 resinous bodies, on being rubbed would attract pith-balls and 

 other light substances, the discovery was looked upon as unim- 

 portant and trifling, and no one thought the knowledge capable 

 of being made available for any practical purpose ; yet from 

 this small beginning the science of electricity has been devel- 

 oped, which, in its practical applications in the arts, no one in 

 the present age would venture to set a limit. From the appli- 

 cation of the principles of this science we are indebted for the 

 increased facilities in the art of printing, by the process of elec- 

 trotyping, improvements in the art of gilding, as well as for 

 that wonder of the age, the magnetic telegraph, that brings by 

 its network of wires the most remote places into almost instan- 

 taneous communication. 



The so-called trifling experiments of philosophers, considered 

 by many as beneath the attention of intelligent beings, have 

 brought forth fruit abundantly, the influence of which on the 

 world's progress can hardly be estimated. 



Thus, in every department of knowledge, practical results 

 are constantly presenting themselves as the inevitable conse- 

 quence of progress in the purely abstract investigations of 

 science. 



An accurate scientific knowledge of the appearance, food, 

 development, and mode of existence, of the various animal 

 forms we are brought in contact with in our every day pursuits, 

 as well as their varied relations to the vegetable and inorganic 

 kingdoms of nature, is indispensable if we would derive prac- 

 tical benefit from the different classes of the animal kingdom 

 and render them subservient to our prosperity and happiness. 



Such knowledge to the agriculturalist would indeed be found 

 of incalculable advantage; it would enable him to protect, as 

 far as possible, the many species that confer direct benefits by 

 furnishing various useful products, and to encourage the devel- 

 opment of those that assist in protecting his crops, by preying 

 on noxious forms, and thus preventing their inordinate increase, 

 and at the same time he would be better prepared to adopt suit- 



