CONCLUSION. 397 
havoc they commit on vegetables. To 
prevent their numbers increasing be- 
yond a due proportion, they are made the 
favourite food of birds, as well as of in- 
sects ; while on the other hand, lest they 
should all be destroyed, they also have 
means of eluding their pursuers. 
Lucy, Yes, I recollect; many cater- 
pillars are the same colour as the leaves, 
or twigs, on which they live ; some can 
suddenly drop, by a thread, into the 
air; and others conceal themselves under 
the bark, and feed only at night. 
Mother, You see how carefully Pro- 
vidence has attended to the preservation 
of all his creatures, even the most in- 
significant insect. Can we, then, who 
are the first of created beings, can we, 
even for a moment, lose our confidence 
in the protecting goodness of God ? 
Lucy. No, indeed, mamma ; the study 
of all those surprising little creatures, to 
which you have introduced me, would 
be, I think, a complete cure for any 
