and various as they are, minute as are their bodies, and transitory as is their existence, they are nevertheless bound by certain laws of their natures, which are readily perceived and explained. With no part of this living world are we more intimately connected than with the subjects of Entomology. Some, as the bee and silk worm, administer to our wants and enjoyments; others, whose design is less obvious to us, answer undoubtedly equally important purposes in the great economy of nature. The happy myriads that gambol in a summer's sun; the worm that gnaws at the root of our vegetable, that strips our fruit trees of their leafy glories, or that spins our costly garments; the blights of spring, and the locusts of autumn, spreading dismay and famine; and the coral insect, building its habitation mountain high from the fathomless depths of the ocean, to become the destruction of commerce, or the foundations of islands, rich in oriental productions, are all objects of interest to a contemplative mind.

Some of the general facts connected with this subject, and which will always be found useful and interesting, are such as relate to the origin and formation of insects; that most of them are oviparous, but some are both oviparous and viviparous that they pass through several stages of being, assuming different forms and subsisting upon different kinds of food--that their structure and organization is peculiar to themselvestheir mode of respiration differing from other creatures, the air being admitted to a complicated circulation through the system by means of spiracles and tubes on various parts of the body, but never on the head-no insect breathing through the mouth,--and consequently they produce all their various sounds by their wings, legs, and other parts of the body. The changes which most insects undergo in their transformation from the vile worm to the gay wanderer from flower to flower, are curious in the extreme. At first, we behold an atom, which on being exposed to the genial warmth, bursts its shell and exhibits the feeble insect, capable of procuring its own food,

amidst which, by the instinct of its mother, it has been placed. In its larva state, it repeatedly casts its skin, until, arrived at its full growth, it ceases to eat, selects some place secure from danger, spins itself a shroud, and, in a temporary death, a vivid emblem of mortality, awaits its final consummation of being, when it emerges from its tomb, and, changed in every organ, feature, and capacity, rises into a higher state of existence, to fulfil the important purposes of its creation.

No subject is more fruitful of moral instruction than this:

"Who can observe the bee and ant,

And not provide for future want?"

The admonitions to duty and perseverance, the example for self devotion to each other's welfare, rise at every stage of investigation into the habits of economy of these little creatures. Every department of creation is full of interest; in all we see enough to admire, but we do no injustice by the comparison, in saying, that no part of animated nature presents so much to feast our wonder and astonishment as this. The habits and labors of the bee have been admired in all ages; their industry and economy in the construction of their inimitable habitations--the mathematical exactness in which the cells are proportioned--the division of labour at home and abroad -the collecting of honey and pollen-the care and attention to the young-the massacre of the drones, and the important. functions of the queen, with the mysterious influence which her presence exerts over her loyal subjects, are among the displays of that faculty, which may be called animal reason, and which sometimes mocks at the boasted power of the human intellect, by a forecast and perception, unattainable by the wisdom and philosophy of man. A taste for the cultivation of the bee would add much to the numerous charms of our delightful country. Their history is a volume of useful instruction, and only needs to be known to be duly appreciated. The ant,

though a useless insect, compared with the bee, is in its histo ry no less interesting and wonderful. The policy and labors of ants, their extensive habitations in the tropical regions, and the remarkable fact, that they keep vast numbers of aphides in a kind of domestic subjection, to furnish them with honey, guarded by them in summer, and protected in their cells during winter, give the air of romance to their history, and raise our admiration of that Power whose works are as perfect in an atom as in a globe. Design is no where more distinctly manifest than in the foot of a fly, which enables the insect by suction to walk in perpendicular and pendulous postures; or in the glow worm, whose shining light discovers her presence to her winged mate, herself being destitute of the means of flight. A limited knowledge of insects may often give pleasure to a summer ramble, and enliven many a lonely hour of pain and weariness. Although the objects of Entomology are insignificant when compared with the nobler races of animals, which more immediately affect our interest, yet of every one who delights to trace the designs of intelligence in creation, and understand and enjoy the world around him, this study will command the few moments in the intervals of life, necessary to obtain its leading features.

One of the most obvious beauties of Natural History is the great variety in form and features, every where presented to us, an endless variety, arising from the combination of a few simple principles, readily perceived and comprehended. Take for example the oxygen of the atmosphere, as a supporter of life, without which, no plant or animal can exist. In its application, how various are the means employed by nature, over all whose works, from the least to the greatest, an equal care is extended. In all warm blooded animals, the air is received into the lungs, where it parts with its vital principle to renovate the blood and give health and vigor to the system. In reptiles, a different modification of the lungs and the circulating system, produces a corresponding difference in the temper

ature of the body and the habits of the animal, enabling some of them to exist in a torpid state several months without eating or breathing. In fishes, we discover another arrangement, that of gills, so constructed as to absorb the oxygen from the water in its passage through them; and in many of the lower orders of aquatic animals, the surfaces of their bodies, like the leaves of plants, appear to perform this important function; while in insects, as has been observed, the air is circulated by means of numerous tubes, interlacing the whole system and communicating with openings in various parts of the body.

In the vegetable kingdom, how simple are the elements which compose the endless variety there displayed. Oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen, are the simple substances, which, modified by the law and directed by the influence of vegetable life, perform the ceaseless changes in form, color, and consistence, in the growth, decomposition, and renovation of this important part of creation. These elements accumulate and rise into magnificence and beauty, to fill nature's storehouse with riches and plenty; then again are scattered to recombine in different proportions in other substances, and thus preserve the harmony and order of nature. These general ideas are easily

taught, and not soon forgotten.

What has been said of the advantage, derived from the study of the names, habits, and structures of the inferior objects of creation, will also be applicable to the higher races of animals, with the addition, that our feelings become enlivened as our interest is influenced. The great variety of animals inhabiting the water, will be found to possess a peculiar interest, arising from their adaptation to the element in which they reside. The ocean is the great abode of animal existence, and the provision made for the support of the various tribes, and the means employed to keep in check the more prolific species, are among the most obvious displays of Infinite Wisdom. For most of the animals, great and small, inhabiting the land, a common food is provided in the vegetable kingdom;

comparatively few species prey upon others. But in the ocean, it is different; from the small animalculæ, to which a drop of water is a sea, to the mighty whale,

"Whom God of all his works

Created highest, that swim the ocean stream,"

the condition of the being seems tɔ be, to feed upon and in turn become food to others. The monsters of the deep are interesting to us from many considerations; their gigantic forms, the enterprise and danger of their capture, and the various uses to which they are appropriated in the arts and domestic life, render their history pleasing. The same is true of the smaller inhabitants of that element. The herring visits us annually from its home within the arctic circle; the shad and salmon perform their yearly pilgrimage to the highlands of the country, in obedience to the dictates of their nature; and in every individual species something may be observ ed which will amuse and instruct.

Amid the profusion of living creatures that surround us, none bring to us livelier sensations than birds; their peculiar form, beautiful plumage, and graceful motion through the air, , always delight us. They seem to be the ornamental part of animated nature, as flowers are in the vegetable kingdom. Winter spreads a gloom over the face of the landscape, which in summer was adorned in glittering splendor; and we feel the cold desolation as we survey the silent relics of the departed year; but when spring returns, our feelings are enlivened to hear the winged heralds of seed time and flowers, returned from the sunny vales of the south, bringing the same sweet notes that so often charmed our infancy, and, if the heart has kept its purity, still touches the sympathetic chord in the breast of manhood. In spring, they give an additional enchantment to the smiles of infant nature; throughout the summer, they delight and amuse us with sportive animation in their exuberance of joy and hilarity.