that, though singly, they appear minute, and, as an enemy, contemptible, they are in reality very formidable from their numbers. Thus, some are employed in preparing, some in puri fying, and others in destroying the materials on which they work. rrIeir usefulness is also very important in preserving a due proportion among plants, in consuming what is dead or decayed, and in yielding a large supply of food to other animals; birds and fishes espe cially, of which they are the constant prey.

To those who love to indulge their taste with the view of the most luxurious and elegant

objects, this branch of natural history will at.

ford the most unlimited gratification, from the infinite variety of form and colour, excelled in richness and beauty by no part of nature, not even by the gay tribes of our favourite flowers.

The number of insects is prodigious, and the far greater part of them cannot be seen dis tinctly, without the help of a microscope. Un like other animals which inhabit a single ele merit, air, earth, and water, teem with them: the same insect, in different stages of its exist ence, is at one time an inhabitant of the water, and at another of the air. The changes these creatures undergo, are a source of great variety; for many of them assume several appearances,

xtrernc1y different from one another, in the

ourse