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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10834 ***
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 10834-h.htm or 10834-h.zip:
+      (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/0/8/3/10834/10834-h/10834-h.htm)
+      or
+      (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/0/8/3/10834/10834-h.zip)
+
+
+
+
+THE HISTORY OF INSECTS
+
+NEW-YORK:
+PRINTED AND SOLD BY SAMUEL WOOD,
+At the Juvenile Book-store,
+No. 357, Pearl-street.
+
+1813.
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+    And God made every thing that creepeth
+  upon the earth. Gen. 1. 25.
+
+
+
+
+
+A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+fi fl ff ffi ffl----_fi fl ff ffi ffl_.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  Observe the insect race, ordained to keep
+  The silent sabbath of a half year's sleep!
+  Entom'd beneath the filmy web they lie
+  And wait the influence of a kinder sky;
+  When vernal sunbeams pierce the dark retreat,
+  The heaving tomb distends with vital heat;
+  The full formed brood, impatient of their cell,
+  Start from their trance, and burst their silken shell.
+
+BARBAULD.
+
+
+
+
+THE HISTORY OF INSECTS.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Insects are so called from a separation in the middle of their bodies,
+seemingly cut into two parts, and joined together by a small ligature,
+as we see in wasps and common flies.
+
+However small and contemptible this class of beings may appear, at first
+thought, yet, when we come to reflect, and carefully investigate, we
+shall be struck with wonder and astonishment, and shall discover, that
+the smallest gnat that buzzes in the meadow, is as much a subject of
+admiration as the largest elephant that ranges the forest, or the
+hugest whale which ploughs the deep; and when we consider the least
+creature that we can imagine, myriads of which are too small to be
+discovered without the help of glasses, and that each of their bodies is
+made up of different organs or parts, by which they receive or retain
+nourishment, &c. with the power of action, how natural the exclamation,
+O "Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all."
+Under these considerations, that they are the work of the same great,
+good, and Almighty hand that formed us, and that they are all capable of
+feeling pleasure and pain, surely every little child, as well as older
+person, ought carefully to avoid every kind of cruelty to any kind of
+creature, great or small.
+
+The supreme court of Judicature at Athens punished a boy for putting out
+the eyes of a poor bird; and parents and masters should never overlook
+an instance of cruelty to any thing that has life, however minute, and
+seemingly contemptible the object may be.
+
+  "I would not enter on my list of friends
+  (Though grac'd with polish'd manners, and fine sense,
+  Yet wanting sensibility) the man
+  Who needlessly sets foot upon a worm."
+
+COWPER.
+
+
+
+
+ELEPHANT-BEETLE.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+The elephant-beetle is the largest of this kind hitherto known, and is
+found in South America, particularly in Guiana, about the rivers Surinam
+and Oroonoko. It is of a black colour, and the whole body is covered
+with a shell, full as thick and as strong as that of a small crab. There
+is one preserved in the museum that measures more than six inches.
+
+
+
+
+GRASSHOPPER.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+Grasshoppers are too common to need description, as they abound almost
+wherever there is green grass. One summer only is their period of life;
+they are hatched in the spring, and die in the fall; previous to which,
+they deposite their eggs in the earth, which the genial warmth of the
+next season brings to life. They are food for many of the feathered
+race.
+
+
+
+
+CRICKET.
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+There are two classes of crickets: viz. the field cricket, and the house
+cricket; the latter inhabits warm places, the holes of the hearth, &c.
+from whence we hear its notes, which are agreeable: it is said, that
+they are purchased by some, and kept in a kind of cage, for the sake of
+their music. Field crickets inhabit the meadows, and subsist on roots,
+&c. as does another species, called the mole cricket.
+
+
+
+
+LOCUST.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+There are different kinds of the locust; those we are acquainted with,
+in this country, are represented in the above cut. In some seasons, they
+are scarcely heard at all; in others, they are more numerous. About the
+middle or latter part of summer, we hear them among the leaves of the
+trees: their notes, which are continued about the space of one minute,
+are loud at the beginning, and grow lower and lower, till they cease;
+when they immediately fly to another tree, begin again, and end in the
+same way, and so on.
+
+In the eastern countries, a kind or kinds of locust, at different
+periods, have been very numerous, and have done abundance of damage. In
+the year 1650, a cloud of locusts entered Russia, in three different
+places; and from thence spread over Poland and Lithuania; the air was
+darkened, and the earth covered, in some places, to the depth of four
+feet; the trees bent with heir weight, and the damage sustained exceeded
+computation. Locusts were among the plagues of Egypt: sec Exodus, x. 15.
+
+
+
+
+FLEA.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+This very troublesome little animal multiplies very fast among old rags,
+dirt, straw, and litter, where hogs, cats, or dogs sleep; and in the
+hair and bristles of those creatures: therefore, as a means of avoiding
+such unwelcome neighbours, in the springs the cleanly farmer scrapes up
+the rubbish about his woodpile, and around his house and barn, and
+removes it into his field, where it also repays him by manuring his
+lands. They abound in warm countries, particularly in the southern parts
+of France and Italy.
+
+When examined by a microscope, the flea is a pleasant object. The body
+is curiously adorned with a suit of polished armour, neatly jointed, and
+beset with a great number of sharp pins almost like the quills of a
+porcupine: it has a small head, large eyes, two horns, or feelers, which
+proceed from the head, and four long legs from the breast; they are very
+hairy and long, and have several joints, which fold as it were one
+within another.
+
+
+
+
+LOUSE.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+These loathsome animals, however unwelcome, attend in troops, and add to
+the afflictions of the unfortunate and lazy; but they are routed by the
+hand of industry and cleanliness.
+
+In examining the louse with a microscope, its external deformity strikes
+us with disgust. It has six feet, two eyes, and a sort of sting,
+proboscis, or sucker, with which it pierces the skin, and sucks the
+blood. The skin of the louse is hard and transparent, with here and
+there several bristly hairs: at the end of each leg are two claws, by
+which it is enabled to lay hold of the hairs, on which it climbs. There
+is scarcely any animal known to multiply so fast as this unwelcome
+intruder: from an experiment of Lieuenhoek, a louse in eight weeks, may
+see five thousand of its descendants.
+
+Among the ancients, what is called the lousy disease was not uncommon:
+Antiochus, Herod, and others are said to have died of this disorder.
+
+
+
+
+ITCH ... MITE.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHEGO ... DEATHWATCH.
+
+
+There are many species of mites, beside the itch animal and mite above:
+to the naked eye, they appear like moving particles of dust: but the
+microscope discovers them to be perfect animals, having as regular a
+figure, and performing all the functions of life as perfectly as
+creatures that exceed them many times in bulk: their eggs are so small
+that a regular computation shews that 90 millions of them are not so
+large as a common Pigeon's egg.
+
+The Chego is a very small animal, about one fourth the size of a common
+flea: it is very troublesome, in warm climates, to the poor blacks, such
+as go barefoot, and the slovenly: it penetrates the skin, under which it
+lays a bunch of eggs, which swell to the bigness of a small pea.
+
+The Deathwatch, of which there are two kinds, is an insect famous for a
+ticking noise, like a watch, which superstitious people take for a
+presage of death, in the family where it is heard.
+
+
+
+
+SCORPION.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+This is one of the largest of the insect tribe. It is met with in
+different countries, and of various sizes, from two or three inches to
+nearly a foot in length: it somewhat resembles a lobster, and casts its
+skin, as the lobster does its shell.
+
+Scorpions are common in hot countries: they are very bold and watchful:
+when any thing approaches, they erect their tails, and stand ready to
+inflict the direful sting. In some parts of Italy and France, they are
+among the greatest pests that plague mankind: they are very numerous,
+and are most common in old houses, in dry or decayed walls, and among
+furniture, insomuch that it is attended with, much danger to remove the
+same: their sting is generally a very deadly poison, though not in all
+cases, owing to a difference of malignity of different animals, or some
+other cause.
+
+In the time of the children of Israel, scorpions were a plague in Egypt
+and Canaan, as appears by the sacred writings. See Deuteronomy, viii.
+15, and other passages.
+
+
+
+
+ANTS.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+  'Who can observe the faithful ant,
+  And not provide for future want.'
+
+These little animals have been for ages considered as patterns of
+industry: they were specially noticed by the wise king Solomon. He says,
+"go to the ant, thou sluggard, consider her ways, and be wise." The ant
+lays eggs in the manner of common flies; from these eggs are hatched
+small maggots, or worms without legs; these, after a short time, change
+into large white aureliae, or chrysales, which are usually called ant's
+eggs. When a nest of these creatures is disturbed, however great their
+own danger, the care they take of their offspring is remarkable: each
+takes in its foreceps, a young one, often larger than itself and carries
+it off.
+
+These little insects form to themselves, with much industry and
+application, of earth, sticks, leaves, &c. little hillocks, called
+ant-hills, in the form of a cone: in these, they dwell, breed, and
+deposite their stores: they are commonly built in woody places: the
+brushy plains on Long-Island abound with them: they are from one to two
+feet in height.
+
+
+
+
+HONEY-BEE.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+This is an extraordinary, curious, and remarkably industrious little
+insect, to which mankind are indebted for one of the most palatable and
+wholesome sweets which nature affords; and which was one of the choice
+articles with which the promised land was said to abound.
+
+In every hive of bees, there are three kinds; the queen, the drones,
+and the labourers: of these last, there are by far the greatest number:
+and as cold weather approaches, they drive from the hives and destroy
+the drones, that have not laboured in summer, and will not let them eat
+in winter. If bees are examined through a glass hive, all appears at
+first like confusion: but, on a more careful inspection, every animal is
+found regularly employed. It is very delightful, when the maple and
+other trees are in bloom, or the clover in the meadows, to be abroad and
+hear their busy hum.
+
+  "Brisk as the busy bee among learning's flowers.
+  Employ thy youthful sunshine hours."
+
+
+
+
+DRAGON FLY.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+Of these flies, which are called by many Spindles, there are various
+species. They all have two very large eyes, covering the whole surface
+of the head. They fly very swiftly, and prey upon the wing, clearing the
+air of innumerable little flies. The great ones live about water, but
+the smaller are common among hedges, and about gardens.
+
+
+
+
+BUTTERFLY.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+Of butterflies there are many kinds. How wonderful the various changes
+of this class of insects! The butterflies lay their eggs: from these
+hatch out worms or caterpillars, which change their skins several times,
+and, finally, become aureliae, chrysales, or silkworms, out of which
+come the beautiful butterflies.
+
+
+
+
+SPIDER.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+There are many kinds of spiders; some of which are said to grow to such
+a size that they will catch small birds: some are poisonous, but the
+greater part are harmless, although to most people their looks are
+disgusting. The web of a spider, which is a net for catching its prey,
+is an astonishing piece of curiosity.
+
+
+
+
+SILK WORM
+
+[Transcriber's Note: The heading 'SILK WORM' was added in order to
+improve clarity.]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The silk worm is a very valuable insect: it is produced from an egg of a
+yellowish colour, about the size of a small pin's head, that is laid by
+a moth, or butterfly. The above cut represents a male and female, and
+her eggs, of which she lays several hundreds: the moths live but a few
+days; they never eat, and die directly after the eggs are laid.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+This cut shews the appearance of the worm, which at first is very small
+and black. Its food is the leaves of the white mulberry: as it grows in
+size, at four different periods, it apparently sickens, and changes its
+skin, and finally, when full grown, it spins a ball of silk, called a
+cone, or cocoon, the thread of which is about three hundred yards long:
+in the centre of this ball the worm entombs itself, and experiences a
+change to a state called an aurelia, or chrysallis, as seen below the
+ball: from this aurelia, the moth that lays the eggs is hatched, and
+thus goes on the round of this animal's changes, or transmigrations.
+
+They are natives of China, and were brought into Italy, above twelve
+hundred years ago; from thence into Spain; afterwards into France; much
+later into Germany and the northern countries; and some have been reared
+in the United States of America.
+
+
+
+
+SAMUEL WOOD
+
+
+Hereby informs the good little Boys and Girls, both of city and country,
+who love to read better than to play, that if they will please to call
+at his JUVENILE BOOK-STORE, NO. 357, Pearl-street, New-York, it will be
+his pleasure to furnish them with a great variety of pretty little
+books, with neat nuts, calculated to afford to the young mind pleasing
+and useful information. Besides many from Philadelphia, New Haven, and
+elsewhere, he has nearly fifty kinds of his own printing, and proposes
+to enlarge the number.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10834 ***