168 HEMJl»rEUA. 
an eminent naturalist, Dr. Sparman, who 
had retired from the heat of the sun, 
under the shade of some trees. The 
weather was so calm that not a leaf 
stirred ; yet, after some time, he ob- 
served as he thought a little brown leaf 
moving through the air, as if blown from 
a tree ; this excited his curiosity, and on 
examination he found that it was a 
cimex, of a pale brown colour, like a 
withered leaf, with the edges crumpled, 
and looking as if gnawed by caterpillars ; 
but thickly beset all over with small 
prickles. Assisted by this mask it could 
ily about in security, as birds, the ene- 
mies of all the insect race, would proba- 
bly pass by, unheeding a crumpled, faded 
leaf. Thus you see that every creature, 
however insignificant it may appear to us, 
is endued, by the goodness of Providence, 
with the means either of defence, of es- 
cape, or of concealment*. 
Luty\ This is indeed one of the most 
* Plate XIII. 
