The Osceola times., 1876-04-15
ENTOMOLOGY.
A Few OF the MANY Wonders ot theilnseet
World.

A Few Of the MANY wsaaers ef thriIssee'
world.
The following are extracts from lee
ture by Prof. Charles V. Riley, delivered
at Washington university, st. Louis
March oath:
have been familiar with insects from
my boyhoOd; have reared thousands,
and watched many an image struggle
through its silken cerements or burst its
chrysalis bonds; but never witness the
operation-I never contemplate that
within the masked worm Is locked up
the future butterily-without 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 harvests ;
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 q perpetual
charm which never fades.
THE METAMoRPHosBs OF INSECTS.
Every insect passes through four dis
tinct states Of existence: lst, the egg ;
ID, the larva, or masked state; I'd, 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 10 changes that there
is no manner of resemblance between
them.
Now, not only does the outward ap
pearance radically differ in these thre'
states, but the internal structure is als'
completely changed. In the cmerpilla
we find thousands Of muscles whicl
move the different segments of whicl
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 well-nigh obsolete, and the jaw
are replaced by a long, hollow tongu,
for sucking up liquids. From the grow
ling, greedy worm, confined to its food
plant, to the frail and aerial creatur
| Hitting 20 joyfuHy from flower to flowe
and robbing them of nectar, what
changcl
The dcft little fly that 10 noisclessl,
darts about your table, with his delicat'
limbs and wings, its wonderful probosci
and complex eyes, was only few day
before disgusting little maggot, riotinl
in filth, without eyes, without legs, with
out wings.
No wonder that, without our presen
knowledge of physiology and biology
the ancicnts looked upon the metamor
phoscs of insects as emblematic of tn,
human souls progress from this grovcl
ing, earthly condition, through death Il
immortal life. The fable of "Cupid ant
Psyche" is evidently based upon them
and Psyche in Greek means both "soul'
and butterfly :" and although in real
| ity the larva is but the baby and tn,
pupa the youth of the same individual
the changes are 80 remarkable that n
good an anatomist as Swammerdam re
marks of them that eve see therein tn
resurrection painted before our eyes, am
cxcmplified 50 as to be examined by GU
hands"
ENTOMOLOGY AS A STUDY.
That there exists certain c0ntcmp
in the public mind for what are derisive
ly termed "bugs," in America, is to
evident, particularly in our cities, wher
the word is associated only with trouble
some or offensive species. Yet this cor
tempt is unwarranted. The whole clas
should not be judged by the exceptiona
few. There is scarcely one Of these crea
lures but, when carefully examined
presents a perfect microcosm Of wonde
and beauty, and the structure Of mos
of them is more complicated than that {
man himself. They are possessed {
senses which we have no sense to cor
ceiye. We find assembled among ther
all the striking peculiarities of other an
mails. The piercing, but simple, eye {
the eagle or the lynx will not compar
with the stereoscopic and compound ey
of the dragon-ny, that sees in all direC
tions at one time the sharp snout Q
the sword. fish If. comparatively, fecbl
weapon by the side of that of a Pirate
or a soldier-bug; the jaws OF lion ar
weak in comparison with those of an an
or of tigcr-beetlc; the tongue of liz
ard is short compared to that of a hawk
moth What is the architecture of tn
beaver by the side of that Of the bee
Compare the jumping of the kangaro
with that of flea or Peciloptera, tn
fecundity of the hare with that of tn
aphis, or of the female termite, whicl
has been known to lay an egg a secon'
for twenty-four hours; the climbing O
the squirrel with that of the fly; tn
swiftness of the antelope with that OF tn
cicindela or carabus-and you will fin
that, If the acts be measured by the siz
of the actors, insects invariably carr
off the palm. The electricity of tn
gymnotus or of the torpedo, the horr
OF the stag and rhinoceros, the burrov
ing of the mole, the phosphorescencc
the jellyfsh, the changing colors OF Il
chameleon, are reproduced in the Red
|. vius serratls, in the stag and rhinocer