CONCERNING LAPLAND. 
247 
the bombyx, or ftlk-worm, and others, are infe&s for the utility 
of which we are indebted to the obfervations of true entomo- 
logifts. 
There is ftill a wide field open for difcoveries of the like nature. 
If, for inftance, it were afcertained which caterpillars are moft 
injurious to the vegetation of young trees, our endeavours to de- 
ftroy them might be directed accordingly. Several are pernicious 
to the grain ; thefe alfo might be pointed out and fuccefsfully 
fubdued. On the other hand, the entomologifl might fhow new 
advantages to be derived from fome infeCts that are as yet un¬ 
known. The termes, blatta, dermejles , tinea, may perhaps at fome 
future period be looked upon with lefs apprehenfion and diflike 
than thofe infers which are now efteemed perfectly innocent •. 
and the hufbandman, by the exertions of the entomologifl, be 
freed from the fear ol feeing the fields that he cultivates with the 
fweat of his brow, changed into barren and unfruitful ground. 
The new fpecies of infers w 7 hich have been found in Lap- 
land, offer as yet no flriking difcoveries of pra&ical benefit. The 
firfl flep always mull be to know a thing before we can invefti- 
gate its ufe, and in this we are greatly affifled by a fcientific 
method and claffification. Travellers have hitherto only been 
able to fearch for and gather materials; they have made collec¬ 
tions, and given lifts and defcriptions: of this kind w T ill alfo be 
found to be that which is prefented to the reader in this work. 
To render it more interefting, the figures are added of fuch in¬ 
fers as have not yet obtained a place in any collection of prints. I 
Khali 
