THE GRAMMAR OF ENTOMOLOGY. BOOK II. ON THE COLLECTION AND PRESERVATION OF INSECTS. Above the sovereign oak a sovereign skims, With every filmy fly, from mead to bower, And hungry Sphinx, who threads the honeyed flower; CRABBE. APOLOGY FOR THE ENTOMOLOGIST. PETER PINDAR, in his tale of Sir Joseph Banks and the Emperor of Morocco, not only gives the opinion of the unlettered rustic on the subject of insect-hunting, but his own opinion, and the opinion of ninety-nine persons out of a hundred, even at the present day; namely, that a person who could take an interest in pursuing a butterfly must be a madman. The collector of insects must therefore make up his mind to sink in the opinion of his friends;-to be the object of the undisguised pity and ridicule of the mass of mankind, from the moment in which he commences so insignificant a pursuit: and precisely in proportion as he enters on the subject scientifically, will this pity and ridi cule increase. Argument with others, in these cases, is wholly useless; but each individual may say to himself:Insects are wonderfully and beautifully made; they appear equal, often superior, in structure and in powers, to any other work of the great Creator; He, moreover, in their unaccountable instincts, appears directly to guide the actions of each without the medium of reason or memory. How can these beings, thus so immediately under the care of the Creator, be too insignificant for me to notice? It will not be amiss at the same time to reflect, that considered in relation to ourselves insects are not unimportant. Cantharides, a drug of great value, and which, as the principal ingredient of blisters, is yet unequalled, is the name given to beetles collected in great abundance from ash and other trees in the south of Europe; they are merely dried and pounded, and are at once fit for use. Silk, an article of dress, and one which gives employment and consequent means of subsistence to millions of human beings, is, as we have already related, the produce of the silk-worm. Ink, an article of immense importance in our communications with each other, and in the preservation of knowledge, is principally made from galls produced on trees by a minute insect called the gall-fly. Cochineal, the most valuable and beautiful of dies, is an insect which feeds on a species of Cactus, in Mexico, and other parts of the continent of America. Kermes, the most brilliant scarlet die known previously to the discovery of America, is an insect found abundantly on the Quercus coccifera, in the south of Europe this was the celebrated Phoenician die. Shell-lac, a glutinous substance, now of very great importance in the manufacture of hats, and of value as an ingredient of printers' ink, is secreted by an insect which swarms on the trunks of several kinds of trees in India. Wax, that enlightens our drawing-rooms, and in combination is applied to a great variety of purposes, is manufactured by the bee, whose history has already been related. Honey is another production of the same industrious insect; and although much of its value has departed since the introduction of sugar, it is still an article of luxury. Mead, a wholesome and delicious beverage, for which this country has long been famous, and the manufacture of which is still carried on with great skill and success in some of our counties, is made from honey. Locusts, as an article of food, are spoken of in Scripture. The inhabitants of Fez, Morocco, and adjacent countries, eat them at this day; and the Hottentots hail the coming of the locusts with delight, and are said to fatten on them. The fructification of many plants is entirely accomplished by different species of bees, which convey the pollen from plant to plant, and also from the stamens to the stigma of the same plant. As food for birds and fishes, insects may be considered by far the principal article; there is scarcely a bird or a fish but devours them with avidity. The turnip-fly has the power of destroying almost the whole crop of that excellent and useful vegetable, and as yet no certain cure for its ravages is known. Rusticus, an author before quoted, has ascertained that salting the seed acts in a good degree as a preventive. The hop-fly has the power of destroying the produce of the hop in the most remarkable manner : the crop appears exclusively dependant on the scarcity or abundance of this insect. The locust, by causing pestilence or famine, has in all ages possessed the power of sweeping millions of human beings from the face of the earth. The mosquito, by its unceasing attacks, is capable of rendering life an almost insupportable burden gnats and other flies, in hot countries, have an influence over us scarcely less fearful. Economy of space and materials in architecture is taught |