On the same subject :

BY MRS. ROBINSON.

POOR insect! what a little day
Of sunny bliss is thine!

And yet thou spread'st thy light wings gay,
And bid'st them, spreading, shine.

Thou humm'st thy short and busy tune,
Unmindful of the blast;

And careless, while 'tis burning noon,
How quick that noon be past.

A show'r would lay thy beauty low,
A dew of twilight be

The torrent of thy overthrow,
Thy storm of destiny!

Then spread thy little shining wing,
Hum on thy busy lay!

For Man, like thee, has but his spring;
Like thine, it fades away.

On Cruelty to Insects:

BY WILLIAM COWPER, ESQ.

I WOULD not enter on my list of friends (Tho' graced with polished manners and fine sense, Yet wanting sensibility) the man,

Who needlessly sets foot upon a worm.
An inadvertent step may crush the snail,
That crawls at evening in the public path;
But he that has humanity, forewarned,
Will tread aside, and let the reptile live.
The creeping vermin, loathsome to the sight,
And charged perhaps with venom, that intrudes,
A visitor unwelcome, into scenes

Sacred to neatness and repose, the alcove,
The chamber, or refectory, may die:
A necessary act incurs no blame.

Not so when, held within their proper bounds,
And guiltless of offence, they range the air,
Or take their pastime in the spacious field:
There they are privileged; and he that hunts
Or harms them there is guilty of á

wrong,
Disturbs the economy of Nature's realm,
Who, when she formed, designed them an abode.
The sum is this. If man's convenience, health,

10

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS.

Or safety interfere, his rights and claims
Are paramount, and must extinguish them
Else they are all-the meanest things that are,
As free to live, and to enjoy that life,

As God was free to form them at the first,
Who in his sovereign wisdom made them all.
Ye therefore, who love mercy, teach your sons
To love it too.

11

ANECDOTES OF

REMARKABLE INSECTS.

ANTS.-TERMES.

[The WOOD ANT, as seen through a Microscope.]

Brief description of their Commonwealth,

&c.

ANTS live in large societies, somewhat in the manner of bees or wasps, and are, like them, divided into males, females, and neutrals. This latter class appears to conduct the business of the nest, which is usually at a small distance from the surface, in some

slight elevation, either prepared by the insects themselves, or previously formed by some other animals, as moles, &c. They feed on both animal and vegetable substances, devouring the smallest kinds of insects, caterpillars, &c. as well as fruits of different kinds. The fondness of Ants for animal food is often turned to good account by anatomists. When they wish to obtain the skeleton of any animal, too small or delicate to admit of being prepared in the usual way, the animal is disposed in a proper position, in a small box, with perforations in the lid, and deposited in a large Ant-hill; in consequence the softer parts are eaten away, and the skeleton remains. Thus, very elegant skeletons of frogs, snakes, &c. may be obtained.

The Common or Black Ant (formica nigra) is a well known inhabitant of our fields and gardens, residing in great numbers between molehills and other elevated spots. It is of a brownish black colour, and of a glossy or polished surface. The eggs of this species are deposited early in the spring, and are extremely small, and of a white colour. From these are hatched the larva, which