The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1864-09-13

/ possibly emerge fulLgrown at last; but | may
have some ichneumOn eggs Of another tendency
i stung into me, and disappoint the hopes Of my
| insect promise Still, am curiOnsly fond Of look
/ ing at insects and their homes, and sat down for
/ the purpose Of having chat with you about
| some that are familiar, though really unknouTn
| 20 most Of us; but won't follow this purpose
/ out.
I have ever so many scribbled notes before me
about gall-nuts, oak-appes, wasps' nests ant-gal-
| lercs, burying beetles caddis worms 60 but
| thcrc-they shall 20 into my waste. bssket and
we Will Just glance, in an unscieutihc but hone
not wholly trivial way, at such symptoms OF
insect MONIES as present themselves in a dngy
little study which looks out into news i'm the
thlck OF the parish Of st. Marylehone
am fortunate In having, unlike a friend of
mine, news instead of a churchyard next nv
den. IL is true that get a little more ammonia
than pleases me when | open my window for
air but he found a steady, potent keen-edged
stencil settle itself IN corner of his study with
such sickoning effect that nc was fairly driven
out The carpenter pulled down the skirting-
boards lifted the floor planks, held candles 10 all
the house-drains, smiled about on his knees, and
guessed in vain.
happened TO cal when this had been going on
for some days. l should say that my friend is
the rector of parish. Well, he was standing
there In his study, still smiling and guessing
when came in "Phah! peOugh eugph-goh-
arm ssid J, greeting BIN, and coming within
the limits Of the stencil; "this is n dead rat"
NO. he replied, with a sudden fash of percep-
uoDi 81 believe Il is dead rector" And 80 IL
was colony of ants, in making themselves
comfortable, had grubbed away The mortar of a
contiguous vault, and the odor Of one Of my
iriend's predecessors returned to tho scene Of
his former life, and sat down in the study. A
ltIe cement soon made things pleasant again;
though grieYe TO associate my friends the auts
with such gbOulish procedure.
But about the insects which naturalist may
IND In his library. won't count the flies, for
they don't altogether make themselves at home
there. Some, indeed, circumnayigate the chan
inpngCunf frs. httN ont L,,NN
the windows as long as they retain their energy
for light, and then walk wcarily about the panes
trying to step through the flat mysterious resist
ance, till some day they are found lying on their
backs, with their nmbe little legs stuck stiff up
into the air, and all their troubles past
wonder whether the human bookworm ever
guesses the lesson set by his industrious insect
namesake. The little animal which devours
the wisdom of the past labors with purpose 1t
does not always remain q worm, but after It's
course OF learning, goes forth winged creature,
escaping from the bondage Of the bookshelf 10
lead buoyant active life. Books may be good
diet for while--I have heard of one grub which
ate its way straight through twenty.seyen folio
volumes, indexes and all-but no man should
let his whole life pass away in their unproduc-
tive consumption. Some men are so stuffed with
learning that they seem hardly able to swallow,
much less digest what they have devoured, but
go INTO society with their mouths still full Of
quotations.
Give me a scholar who shows his readiness Inv
the strength OF his sense, and not by the display
of his unmasticated food. There are literary glut-
tons who only think what fresh book they can read ,
instead Of reading In order to think with fresh
energy. Great readers are by no means likely to
be wise, any more than great eaters are TO be
strong. There is an intellectual dyspepsia
brought on by an excess of rich mental fare Just
as there is physical dyspepsia from too many
sweet and sayory dishes Learn a lesson from
the real bookworm, Mr.. Philosopher, and when
you have bored through your volumes, take
turn in the air along with the other flies of
creation.
Spiders must recognize our rooms as a favorite
home Of insects, since they spin on in spite of
broOmS and destruction. A spider proves the
presence OF lively insect population, just as an
attorney does that Of litgous one, and though
the spider be swept down from the plainest cor
ners, yet she will set her net behind the book
case over the cornice, anywhere out of sight.
This shows that insects may be expected in the
most unlikely hooks in your room. Their enemy,
bailled by the repeated destruction of her appa-
ratus, shuiiies off at last behind some projection
which preserves her from daily disturbance, and
spreads her sticky net in confidence. She knows
more about the population of your study than its
owner. While you maybe labor for the cnlight-
eminent and fair dealing of your age, the spirit
Of cruel strategem broods over your head.
There you sit at your desk with your pen and
your plans, simmering with philanthropy, and
appealing TO the beneficent influences Of life.
Meanwhile, Mother Nature, in the shape of
SLY pot-bellied spider, squats amid your schemes,
intent on deception and murder. Do not say
small halo of influence which surrounds the
strongest of us; do not look with q sigh on all
facts which do not seem to You good. There can
DC no life without death. There is much newt.
able right which rings us with sharp pain. The
pleasantness of wisdom is not felt altogether by
the eye, tho tongue, the ear, and the skin. Do
not expect goodness to be agreeable at all. Nature
is cruel, like the spider. She knows no twinge,
no pity. For some mistakes, Providence will
grind you to powder.
Natural sense tells you not to spill luCifer
matches about; defy that warning, and possibly
nature VIII Try your waXcn babe in his cradle
ay, and while he walls away his little scrap of
scorched life, and John is galloping in the middle
Oi the turnpike road TO fetch the doctor nature
puts lusty little bird to sing his song upon the
branch outside of the window, and pOurs down
her May sunshine upon the Joyous rookery
There-scason your philosophy with a little
spiders lesson, and while you strive against
wrong, learn from natures way to correct your
purblind notions Of 1t. There is much good done
by what some call evil We who seek absolute
truth, have no business to decide other peoples
affairs from our view of fact. The wind which
dries the corn, exercises the trees and sveeps
the air of pestilence from crowded city, cracks
the careless sailors ship upon rock. SO many
a strong fact and wholesome thought which
treshens the stagnant, and stimulates the grow.
ing mind into higher, truer life, crushes the
feeble soul, and uprOots the comfortable Credu-
llty OF the weak. You may depend upon it that
the insects which find home in the study of a
philosopher, might teach him quite as much as
you, and these small sages expect you 10 think
for yourself-which is hard.