SENSES OF INSECYS: 255 
are transmitted through the pores of the part represent- 
ing the nostrils, or received by the mouth,—TI will not 
venture to assert positively: but from the circumstance 
of their being membranous in scme insects remarkable 
for acute scent, as in Necrophorus, Staphylinus, &c., there 
seems some ground for the former opinion. As the sense 
of smell in these little beings is extremely acute, as well 
as their hearing, the perception of odours may reach their 
sensory through these pores; and even those in the hard 
rhinarium of an Anoplognathus may receive and trans- 
mit them; and besides the upper-lip and nose are often 
united by membranes which may facilitate such trans- 
mission. 
That insects ¢as¢e, no one hesitates to believe, though 
some have supposed the palpi to be the organ of that 
sense ; but as they have a tongue, as we have shown, we 
may with Cuvier conclude, that one of its primary func- 
tions is to ¢aste their food?. I shall not therefore launch 
out further upon this head. 
I have now placed before you a picture, or rather 
sketch, of the insect world. And whether we regard their 
general history and economy, their singular metamor- 
phoses, the infinite varieties and multiplicity of their 
structure both external and internal, and their diversi- 
fied organs both of sense and motion—{f think you will 
be disposed to own, that in no part of his works is the 
hand of an ALMIGHTY and ALL-wIsE CREATOR more vi- 
sibly displayed, than in these minutiz of creation; that 
they are equally worthy of the attention and study of the 
4 Cuy. Anct. Comp. il. 682—. 
