The entomologist's useful compendium; or an introduction to the knowledge of British insects ... / together with the genera of Linné, and the modern method of arranging the classes ... according to the views of Dr. Leach ... with instructions for collecting and fitting up objects for the microscope. Illustrated with twelve plates.

George Samouelle

Date:: 1824

Credit: The entomologist's useful compendium; or an introduction to the knowledge of British insects ... / together with the genera of Linné, and the modern method of arranging the classes ... according to the views of Dr. Leach ... with instructions for collecting and fitting up objects for the microscope. Illustrated with twelve plates. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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every class of animals is most indisputably attended with peculiar ad¬ vantages : yet I will venture to affirm, that it is from a knowledge of the characters and metamorphoses of these little animals, and the va¬ rious modes of life which they are destined to pursue, that he will ob¬ tain a more intimate acquaintance with the great laws of nature, and veneration for the Great Creator of all, than can be derived from the contemplation of any other class in nature, The beauty of insects in genera], renders them engaging to many who have neither time nor inclination for studying their more complicated structure; and the gaiety of their colours, often combined with the most graceful forms, displays a beauty, splendour and vivacity, greater than that bestowed by the hand of Nature on any of her other works. One defect in ap¬ pearance must indeed be conceded; and this may be regarded, in point of beauty, a material deficiency indeed,—they are not always so considerable in magnitude as to become, even with these embellish¬ ments, strikingly attractive. Were they equal in size to the smallest birds, their elegance would render them more inviting to the eyes of mankind in general; but, even amongst the minor species, when ex¬ amined with a microscope, we find their beauty and elegance far supe¬ rior to that of any other class of animals in the creation. u After a mi¬ nute and attentive examination,” says Swammerdam, “ of the nature and structure of the smaller as well as the larger animals, I cannot but allow an equal, if not superior, degree of dignity to the former. If, whilst we dissect with care the larger animals, we are filled with wonder at the elegant disposition of parts, to what a height is our astonishment raised when we discover their parts arranged in the least in the same regular manner!” Insects may be divided into two kinds; those which are immediately or remotely beneficial or injurious to mankind. Many insects in¬ deed seem not to affect us in any manner; others, and by far the greater number, most assuredly fall under one or the other denomi¬ nation, and on this account demand our most serious attention. But, lest the alleged utility of some insects should seem hypothetical to the superficial observer, whilst the noxious effects of others are too obvious to admit of doubt, I shall be more explicit upon this subject. The depredations of insects upon vegetable bodies are often detrimental; but it must be remembered, that in these ravages they often repay the injury they commit. Locusts, the most destructive of all insects, whose numbers spread desolation through the vegetable world, are not (except on some occasions when their multiplication ex¬ ceeds all bounds) unproductive of advantage. Although they deprive mankind of a certain portion of vegetable food, yet, in return, their bodies afford nutriment of a wholesome and palatable kind, and in much greater abundance. The various species of locusts are the com¬ mon food on which the inhabitants of several parts of the world sub*

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