The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1876-04-20
ENTOMOLOGY.
u Few OF the Many wonders of thelInsect
World.

World.
The following are extracts from Il lee
ture by Prof Charles V. Riley, delivered
at Washington University, st. Louis
March 24th:
l have been familiar with insects from
my boyhOOd have reared thousands
and watched many an image struggle
through it's silken cerements or burst its
chrysalis bonds; but l never witness the
operatiOn-I never contemplate that
within the masked worm IS locked up
the future butterfy-withOute experience
ing the same keen admiration as of yore.
The genial breath of floral spring, with
its mellOwing influences the intensity of
the leafy and glorious summer, when
natures pulse beats strongly and life is
at its acme the golden and dreamy
autumn, with its gladdening haTvests ;
and the stern, cold winter, which sends
the blood tingling with renewed vigOr
through our veins, are each of them
welcome. We never weary of these re-
curing seasons. So it is with all of ma
ture's works. They possess a perpetual
charm which never fades.
THE METANORPHosEs OF INSECTS.
Every insect passes through four dis
tinCt states of existence: 1st, the egg
ID, the Larvae, or masked state; Sd, the
pupa, or quiescent state; 4th, the image,
or perfect state. Though in some or
ders, where the transformations are
called incomplete, the form is but slight
ly changed in the passage from the
second to the last states. yet in the great
majority of cases the transition from
one state to another is sufficiently sud
den, and the form so changes that there
is no manner of resemblance between
them.
Now, not only does the outward APP
pearance radically differ in these three
states, but the internal structure is also
completely changed. In the caterpillar
we find thousands of muscles which
move the different segments of which
it is made Up, a very capacious stomach,
and powerful Jaws for mastiCating food
In the butterfly the muscles are differ
ent in position and functions, the stOm,
ach is wellnigh obsolete, and the jaws
are replaced by a long, hollow tongue
for sucking up liquids. From the grow
ling, greedy worm, confined to its food
plant, to the frail and aerial creature
Hitting 80 ioyfully from flower to flower
and TObbing them of nectar, what a
change!
The deft little fly that so noiselessly
darts about your table, with his delicate
limbs and wings, its wonderful prObOcis
and complex eyes, was only a few days
before a disgusting little maggOt, riOting
in filth, without eyes, without legs, with
out wings.
No wonder that, without our present
knowledge of physiology and biology,
the ancients looked upon the metamor-
phOses of insects as emblematic of the
human souls progress from this grOvel-
ing, earthly condition, through death to
immortal life. The fable of " Cupid and
Psyche" " is evidently based upon them,
and Psyche in Greek means both "sOuP'
and " butterfly ;" and although in real
ity the larva is but the baby and the
pupa the youth of the same individual,
the changes are 50 remarkable that so
good an anatOmist as SwammeTdam re-
marks of them that " we see therein the
resurrection painted before our eyes, and
exemplified 50 as to be examined by our
hands"
ENTOMOLOGY AS A STUDY.
That there exists a certain contempt
in the public mind for what are derisiye-
lv termed "bugs," in America, IS too
evident, particularly in our cities, where
the word is associated Onlywith trouble
some or offensive species. Yet this con-
tempt is unwarranted. The whole class
should not be judged by the exceptional
few. There is scarcely one of these crea-
lures but, when carefully examined,
presents a perfect micrOcOsm of wonder
and beauty, and the structure of most
of them is more complicated than that Of
man himself They are possessed OF
senses which we have no sense to con-
ceive. We find assembled among them
all the striking peculiarities of other ami
mails. The piercing, but simple, eye OF
the eagle or the lynx will not compare
with the stereOsCOpiC and compound eye
of the dragOn-hy, that sees in all direc-
tiOns at one time the sharp snoUt OF
| the sword fish Is. comparatively, a feeble
weapon by the side of that of a Pirates
or a soldier-bug; the jaws of lion are
| weak in comparison with those of an ant
OF of a tiger-beetle; the tongue Of liz.
ard is short compared to that of hawk
| moth. What Is the architecture of the
| beaver by the side Of that of the bee
! Compare the jumping Of the kangaroo
| with that of flea or a PBCiloptera, the
| fecundity of the hare with that Of Tho
aphis, or of the female termite, which
has been known to lay an egg a seconC
/ 1OT tWeHJy-IOuE nOuTS5 the CtlIl Ding .
the squirrel with that of the fly; the
swiftness of the antelope with that OF the
ciCindela or carabus-and you Will finC
that, if the acts be measured by the sizt
of the actors, insects invariably carry
off the palm. The electricity of tn
gymnotus or of the torpedo, the horn
Of the stag and rhinOceros, the burrow
ing of the mole, the Phosphorescence o
the iellyfish, the changing colors OF thl
chameleon, are reproduced in the Redu
Uius serrotuS, in the stag and rhinOcerO
beetles, the mole cricket, the glOw-woTm
and the tortoise beetles. In short, ther
IS hardly a striking popularity mon
other animals that does not dts CoUn
terpart in insects; while these, again
present US with many most remarkab
habits and peculiarities which find
parallel in the rest of the animal king
dom, and prove them to be most worth
| the students attention.
/ could dwell for hours on the remari
able diversity of their habits. From tn
aesthetic side, the study of insects, as tn
study of any other branch of natur;
history, elevates and enlightens. 1t di
pels prejudice and superstition, an
! affords happiness and instruction.