INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 5 



that the more exalted the object the more excellent the 

 study. By this observation, however, I would by no 

 means be thought to depreciate or discountenance the 

 study either of plants or minerals. All the works of our 

 Creator are great, and worthy of our attention and in- 

 vestigation, the lowest in the scale as well as the highest, 

 the most minute and feeble, as well as those that exceed 

 in magnitude and might. Nor ought those whose incli- 

 nation or genius leads them to one department, to say to 

 those who prefer another — " we have no need of you" — 

 for each in his place, by diffusing the knowledge of his 

 works and adding to the stock of previous discoveries, 

 contributes to promote the glory of the Great Architect 

 of the universe and the good of his creatures. 



It is not my wish to claim for my favourite science 

 more than of right belongs to her ; therefore, when the 

 question is concerning rank, I must concede to the higher 

 orders of animals, I mean Fishes, Amphibia, Birds, and 

 Quadrupeds, their due priority and precedence. I shall 

 only observe here, that there may exist circumstances 

 which countervail rank, and tend to render the study of 

 a lower order of beings more desirable than that of a 

 higher : when, for instance, the objects of the higher 

 study are not to be come at or preserved without great 

 difficulty and expense ; when they are few in number; or, 

 when they are already well ascertained and known : cir- 

 cumstances which attach to the study of those animals 

 that precede insects, while they do not attach to the 

 study of insects themselves. 



With reo-ard to the amusement and instruction of the 

 student, much doubtless may be derived from any one of 

 the sciences alluded to : but Entomology certainly is not 



