XXxly INTRODUCTION. 
‘* Ts this the bound of power divine 
To animate an insect frame ? 
Or shall not he who moulded thine, 
Wake at his will the vital flame ? 
* Go, mortal! in thy reptile state, 
Enough to know to thee is given ; 
Go, and the joyful truth relate, 
Frail child of earth, high heir of heaven !” 
It would be difficult to assign a cause, why insects 
undergo so many changes before arriving at a state 
of maturity. Why is it that they do not, like other 
animals, preserve the same general form from infancy 
to perfection? This is a question which is not easy 
to answer, but no doubt the thing was wisely ordered 
by the Creative Power. We know, however, that 
one yery important part is assigned to insects,—that 
of destroying the redundancy of decaying animal and 
vegetable matter ; and in performing this office, few 
agents could be more effectual; for, in the larve 
state, they are not only extremely voracious, but, 
possessing a stomach nearly the size of their whole 
body, and haying rapid digestive powers, are capable 
of consuming an immense quantity of food. This 
period of their existence is by far the longest. 
Having allayed their almost insatiable voracity, 
and completed the materials for the development 
