The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1876-04-21
ENTOMOLOGY.
Few Of the Many wonders of the Insect
World.

L ne JO1lOWlfIp arc 6AGTdCbS lIOHl Il lee
/: ture by Prof. Charles V. Riley, Delivers
at Washington University, st. Louis
! March oath:
/ have been familiar with insects from
my boyhood have reared thousands
and watched many an image struggl
through its silken cerements or burst it
chrysalis bonds; but never witness tn,
operation-I never contemplate tha
within the masked worm is locked III
the future butterfy-without experienc
ing the same keen admiration as of yore
: The genial breath of floral spring, will
its mellowing influences the intensity O
, the leafy and glorious summer, wher
natures pulse beats strongly and life il
: at its acme the golden and dreamy
autumn, with its gladdening harvests
: and the stern, cold winter, which sends
the blood tingling with renewed vigol
through our veins, are each of them
welcome. We never weary of these re-
curing seasons. So it is with all of ma
lures works. They possess perpetual
charm which never fades.
THE METAMORPHoSEs OF INSECTS.
Every insect passes through four dis
tinct states of existence: 1st, the egg
ID, the Larvae, or masked state Sd, the
|
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 ap-
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
| il is made up, 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 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
fitting so ioyfully from flower to flower
and robbing. 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 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-
20
immortal life. The fable of Cupid and
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 so remarkable that so
good an anatomist as Swammerdam re-
marks of them that we see therein the
resurrection painted before our eyes, and
exemplified so as to be examined by our
hands,"
ENTOMOLOGY AS A STUDY.
That there exists certain contempt
in the public mind for what are derisive-
evident, particularly in our cities, where
the word is associated only with 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-fy, that sees in all direc-
tions at one time the sharp snOut of
the sword. fish is. mparatively, feeble |
weapon by the side of that of Pirates |
or sOldier-bug; the jaws of lion are
weak in comparison with those of an ant
or of 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 Poeciloptera, the
fecundity of the hare with that of the
aphis, or of the female termite, which
has been known to lay an egg a second
for twenty-four hours; the climbing of
the squirrel with that of the fly; the
swiftness of the antelope with that OF the
cicindela or carabus-and you will find
that, if the acts be measured by the size
of the actors, insects invariably carry
off the palm. The electricity of the
gymnotus or of the torpedo, the horns
of the stag and ThinOceros, the burrow-
ing of the mole, the phOsphorescence of
the jellyish, the changing cOlOrs of the
chameleon, are reproduced in the Redu-
Uius Serrdtus, in the stag and rhinOceros
beetles, the mole cricket, the glOw-wOrm,
and the tortoise beetles. In Short there
is hardly striking popularity mong
other animals that does not find its coun-
terpart in insects while these, again,
present us with many most remarkable
habits and peculiarities which find
parallel in the rest of the animal king
dom, and prove them to be most worthy
the students attention.
l could dwell for hours on the remark
able diversity of their habits. From the
aesthetic side, the study of insects, as the
study of any other branch of natural
history, elevates and enlightens. 1t dis
pels prejudice and superstition, and
affords happiness and instruction. 1t
more quickly than any other teaches to
find tongues in trees, sermons in stones,
and good in every thing" In my own ex-
perience have known of several hypo-
chondriacs made happy and hearty by
the mental enjoyment and the physical
exercise that resulted from getting in
terested in the collecting and study OF
natural history objects; and it is sig |
ni6cant fact that many of our greatest
scientific minds, as Charles Darwin,
Herbert Spencer, etc, began their scien-
tific careers, and developed their love of
investigation by the study of insects.
1T DEVELOPS THE OBSERVING FACULTIES.
As / shall presently show, some knowl-
edge of entomology is absolutely essen
tial to the agriculturist, and study of