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LETTER 11. 

 OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 



In my last I gave you a general view of the science of En- 

 tomology, and endeavoured to prove to you that it possesses 

 attractions and beauty sufficient to reward any student who 

 may profess himself its votary. I am now to consider it in a 

 less alluring light, as a pursuit attended by no small degree 

 of obloquy, in consequence of certain objections thought to 

 be urged with great force against it. To obviate these, and 

 remove every scruple from your mind, shall be the business 

 of the present letter. 



Two principal objections are usually alleged with great 

 confidence against the study and pursuit of insects. By some 

 they are derided as trifling and unimportant, and deemed an 

 egregious waste of time and talents ; by others they are re- 

 probated as unfeeling and cruel, and as tending to harden the 

 heart. 



I. I shall begin with the first of these objections — that the 

 entomologist is a mere trifler. As for the silly outcry and 

 abuse of the ignorant vulgar, who are always ready to laugh 

 at what they do not understand, and because insects are 

 minute objects conclude that the study of them must be a 

 childish pursuit, I shall not waste words upon what I so cor- 

 dially despise. But since even learned men and philosophers, 

 from a partial and prejudiced view of the subject, having 

 recourse to this common-place logic, are sometimes disposed to 

 regard all inquiry into these minutiae of nature as useless and 

 idle, and the mark of a little mind ; to remove such prejudice 

 and misconceptions I shall now dilate somewhat upon the 

 subject of Cui bono ? 



When we see many wise and learned men pay attention to 

 any particular department of science, we may naturally con- 

 clude that it is on account of some profit and instruction 



VOL. I. c 



