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A COMPENDIUM 



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OF 



. PHILOSOPHY, 




'^ BEING 



X'S^yfs^ OF THE WISDOM OF GOD IN THE 
'• ' r\J' ' CREATION; - . 






.-■ «Y JOHN WESLEY, A.M 



■ ■ • ^ 



A NEW EDITION, 



Rfi\^ini)>i fORtlEOTSD, AND ADAPTED TO THE PRESENT STATE: 
ri" *-- r OP BOIENCB, 

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AOTfllm.OF **%*,fln9E T« JHsToB^A^VriONSOjCNATyRB,*' ETC. •■ 

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Vol.- II." '. -: 

.• . ■ - ■ 

INVERTEBRATE!) AjaMALS.. .* • 
■ ' • % '"'■■.* 

. .- > • • •♦ A^ 

LONDON: i V- • 

PRINTED FOR THOMAS TBGG AND SOji. • 

73, CHEAP8IDE. 

1836. 






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CONTENTS. 




CHAPTER I. 

'^KNBRAL RSMARU ON INTERTBBRATED ANIMALS 



•^ 



CHAPTER II. 






PA61 



or THE USES 4NO NO^iiU tf^.tJijlE INTISlOrEgaAVt.Q iNIMALS . 21 






, ' crfAi*tEk' IllV 

ON THE DIVISIONS All^')^ JCtAS^iTiCAriON • QF '.iNVRRTEBRATRD 



ANIMALS 



6: 



CHAPTER IV. 
DIVISION OR ClASSiriCATlON OF M0LLU8CA 



IV CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER V. 



ARTICULATED ANIMALS AND THEIR SEySRAL CLASSES 












V 

123 



CHAPTER VI. 



MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES OF SOME OP THE MORE REMARKABLE 
INSECTS ......... 



254 



CHAPTER VII. 



RADIATA, OR ANIMALS, MANY OF WHICH ARE BY THE OLDER 
NATURALISTS STYLED ZOOPHYTES, OR ANIMAL PLANTS 



314 



CHAPTER VIII. 



GENERAL OBSERVATIONS AND REFLECTIONS ON ANIMATED NATURE 

^ ■■-'-.' ■- V „ c ^ ^ *" •- t 



356 






w c »• • " 






t V L >- V. «. 



PREFACE 



TO THE 



SECOND VOLUME, 



The invertebrated animals, from their countless 
numbers, their astonishing variety, the singular 
forms of some, the extreme minuteness of others, 
the vast str^Mh^^hrch' they often- display in pro- 
portion to ^lIeH^^siafe,"theit VpuSerful powers of 
endurance, the iiiigular'nianler' in which many of 
them are produced, the' t^hoiks transformations 
through whicfi scin&*<*f thl#m^ I^a«S'' though remain- 
ing the same identical Beings' afll the time, and the 
great use in the system of nature of animals so 
very abundant and so very diversified, form a 
highly interesting, if not the most highly inte- 
restizTg" volume in the whole ol ftie ^oo^ «xA ^<^- 
rious book of material creation, ^o 'w\vete,\\!ARfc^'> 



Tl PREFACE. 

are the wisdom and power of the Creator written 
in lines more palpable, even to the least observant 
reader; and the interest and value of the lesson 
are greatly heifi^htened by the total di£Ference 
which there is between the system of organisation 
and apparatus of life in these animals, and in our- 
selves, and those animals which, like us, have the 
frame-work of the body formed of a skeleton of 
internal bones, articulated upon a vertebral column. 
It is, therefore, desirable that there should be within 
the reach of all classes of the people, learned and 
unlearned, an epitome of this singular volume of 
Nature's book, expressed in plain language, and 
calculated, in as &r as possible, to instil into all 
the desire of observation, and of following up that 
observation by its ^proper jipplicaiioo^ the promo- 
tion of the gu»>cl/of man^^ and-IEhe gl^y^ X)f God. 

At the time when Mr»-\^efi^ey composed and 
compiled his treatis^e 09. Hth^rwxzrks^ of creation, the 
knowledge of tbis^'depsrt!n«4t: i^^ hi its very 
infancy. We caEnot- iay^ that it ' iS" matured now, 
nor can we even venture to look forward to a time 
when it shall be in a state of maturity, — ^for the 
conquest of the world by wisdom, differs from its 
conquest by war, in this, that the conqueror has no 
need to sit down and mourn, AiVe axio\)[ict ^X«v 



i*REPACE« YU. 

ander, that there is no farther victory to be won. 
On the oiher hand, eyerj successive conquest 
opens up a vista to one still more splendid ; and 
the delightful part of this Warfare is, that everj 
battle is a victory, and the ease and certainty of 
every additional victory increase in proportion to 
the number of those already gained. But, though 
this branch of knowledge is far from perfect, it 
has been greatly extended and improved since the 
days of Wesley, and more especially of late years. 
It , is, however, so very extensive, when taken 
according to the common modes of science, that it 
is beyond the range of any, except those who study 
it professionally; and we have no book in the 
English language, and, I believe, there is no book 
in any language, from which a common reader can 
obtain even a glance at the invertebrated animals, 
sufficiently extensive to embrace the outlines of 
the whole, and yet sufficiently brief for enabling 
the mind to pass readily from the one to the other, 
and from each to the other departments of nature, 
so as to understand the relations and beauties of 
the whole. 

Feeling this, I have endeavoured, to the best of 
my ability, to furnish such an oullm^) \.T^<c:Ya% *Oeft 
general characters, and descnbmg ^iJiva y^'^'^^ 



VUl PREFACE, 

organisation of the different departments and 
classes, and pointing out the relations in which 
they stand to the whole of nature ; so that in its 
subject, this volume is unique, and, in its matter, 
it is original, with the exception of the conclud- 
ing chapter of reflections, which has been altered 
from the original only, in so far as to accord with the 
knowledge which has been added to the common 
stock, since Wesley's work was written. I have 
only further to add, that I have written the book 
expressly as a book for reading, and not as a book 
of reference. I have endeavoured so to express it, 
as that it may be desirable in the school, pleasant 
in the family, intelligible in the cottage, and not 
unworthy of a place in the boudoir of the fashion- 
able, or the closet of the learned. How far I 
have succeeded in this, is not for me to judge ; 
but I feel self-acquitted, in so far as the wish and 
the will are concerned. 

* ROBERT MUDIE. 

Grove Cottage^ Chelsea^ 
May 20, 1836. 



A COMPENDIUM 

OF 

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 



PART THE SECOND. 

DIVISION II INVERTEBRATED ANIMALS. 



CHAPTER I. 

GENERAL REMARKS ON INVERTEBRATED ANIMALS. 

Although the wisdom, power, and goodness 
of the Almighty Creator do not strike us so for- 
cibly in this division of the animal kingdom, as in 
that grand division which have the body formed 
upon a vertebral column or back bone, consisting 
of a number of pieces jointed together with a 
^egree of perfection which no human art can in 
''ny degree imitate ; yet, as they also are the work- 
manship of His hands, they are equally wonderful 
in their varied structures, and in the perfect adapta- 
tions of these structures to their habits ; indeed, 
throughout every department of the works of God, 
the grand lesson which those works teach us is the 
perfection of this adaptation. Whatever the crea- 
ture has to accomplish, its membexa ^.xe ^'^^^^ ^^ 
£tte3t for accomplishing ; and VfbXVe ixo\. Qti^\«^»% 

VOL, II, ^ 



Wesley's philosophy. 



creature, and not one growing plant, is ever in the 
slightest degree deficient or at a loss for any thing 
which its natural economy requires, there is never 
the slightest redundancy in any one. Not an organ 
or part of an organ, hut which has its use, and not 
an organ, or part of an organ, which, in the proper 
sphere of the creature, can be regarded as useless. 
Farther, every specific organ has exactly the form, 
and is composed of the material, which is best fitted 
for its use; but still, in all the countless thousands 
of diflferent classes and genera which make up the 
living creation, there is not, when in a healthy state, 
a single grain or atom of matter more than is abso- 
lutely necessary. 

Two very great advantages result from the study 
of this beautiful adaptation which runs throughout 
the whole of nature ; the one of them of a moral 
nature, tending to improve the character of man, 
and the other a lesson of practical instruction, 
highly useful in all the arts of life. 

The first is the irresistible proof of the existence 
and attributes of the Creator, which' the study of 
creation affords ; and which, when followed out in 
the proper spirit, brings the whole of what God has 
made forward in proof of what he has revealed in 
the Holy Scriptures. Thus clearly establishing that 
He who of olden time spake through the medium 
of prophets and apostles, and of the blessed Founder 
of the Christian religion, is the same as He who 
speaks every day and every hour to all our senses 
and all our feelings, by the instructive voice of 
universal nature. 

This is a most valuable result of an intimate 
knowledge of the works of God; awd it is one 
upon which it behoves every one N*\io V^ VD\.ct^%'vft\ 
^Q the welfare of his fellow crealuxes, ^jsv^N^wssf^ 



NATURAL THEOLOGY. 3 

Ids own eternal happiness, to dwell with due, calm, 
and reverend consideration. Nor is it difficult to 
see the necessity of this ; for the nations which sat 
in darkness, before the Sun of Righteousness arose 
with the light of Divine and immortal truth on his 
wings, could no more refrain from contemplating 
the wonders of creation, and inquiring concerning 
their origin and their author, than we who are blessed 
with the enjoyment of this light, can so refrain, 
and stand guiltless and without excuse before our 
Maker, if we neglect or pervert it. 

People who knew not the revealed truth, could 
not have that general knowledge of the nature 
and the attributes of the one God, which being 
above all perception of the senses, and appre- 
hendible Only by the mind, and even by that 
only by Divine assistance, can be had from the 
revealed word alone. Hence, to such people, 
every demonstration of god-like working, which 
forced itself upon them in the contemplation of the 
works of nature, stood as an insulated fact, power- 
ful in its own evidence, but unconnected with any 
other. Thus, there arose in the imaginations 
of their benighted understandings, as many gods as 
there were remarkable appearances, productions, 
and occurrences, brought before their observation 
without any action or instrumentality of man. This 
is the true origin of those mythologies, which 
all nations that have made any advances in science 
and civilization, without the light of the Bible to 
guide them, have without a single exception framed ; 
and in which the number of the gods has always 
been in proportion to the degree of knowledge 
and the advancement in art whic\\ \Jaft \^<5k\\<i 
possessed, 

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NATURAL THEOLOGY. 5 

of false gods, as the natural knowledge of the peo- 
ple increased, is a proof that, in every addition 
which was made to knowledge, this feeling o{ some- 
thing more than mere nature being necessary 
always mingled along with it. Thus, the error in 
their theology always increased in proportion to 
their knowledge^ until every remarkable phenome- 
non of nature, every kind of scene, every place of 
importance, and almost every individual man, had 
a separate presiding and protecting god. 

Those gods were of course fashioned after the 
manner of men, whether they were or were* not 
represented by idols formed of material sub- 
stance, or otherwise represented to the senses. It 
will be borne in mind, that in such cases it is not 
the material representation, whether stock, stone, 
metal, or any thing else, which is the real idol — the 
false god, which the unenlightened mind goes 
about to substitute in place of that God of truth, 
of whom it has no knowledge save the feeling that 
there is something to be known beyond all that 
the senses can recognise. That this idol, whether 
represented by a symbol or not, is necessarily 
fashioned after the imagination of man, follows 
from the very nature of the case. This is exactly 
the subject upon which man, by the exertion of his 
own unassisted powers, how well and ably soever he 
may exert them, can obtain no information. Material 
nature speaks to the outward senses, as material 
nature only, and as nothing else ; and the inward 
reasoning is nothing more than the comparing of 
one portion of acquired knowledge with another, 
and thereby discovering the relatiotvs ^'V\\q\\ ^-^v^X. 
between tbem ; and so advancm^ %>\je^ Vj ^\fi:^"> 
intil we come to the most gexiexaX coi^^xs&vaxv "Owsi! 
•^n be arrived at, which cOnc\us\oxi \^ «^ \x\\fc\^^ 



6 Wesley's philosophy. 

material nature, if the senses have been full and 
faithful in the observation of the individual facts, 
the comparisons truly made, and the conclusions 
correctly drawn. In all this, however, let it be as 
extensive and as philosophical as the nature of the 
case will admit, and though the result of it is the 
discovery of a law as general as that of the gravi- 
tation of matter, or the construction of an engine 
as powerful and varied in its application as the 
steam engine, yet there is not involved in it one 
single element, however minute, of the true God. 
" God is a spirit," and to be known as well as to be 
worshipped aright, he must be " known in spirit," dis- 
cerned by the internal or immortal principle of man, 
and not through the medium of the senses. Those 
senses, wonderfully as their organs are formed, and 
numerous and beautiful as are their uses, are still 
capable only of observing matter and its properties 
and changes ; and how high soever we may rear 
the fabric of knowledge, which is founded on the 
observation of matter, the mere height to which 
we can raise it can in no way change its nature, or 
in the least alter it from material to spiritual. 

No truth can be plainer than this ; and there is 
none which it behoves us to bear more constantly 
in mind ; and we may add that, as the structure of 
material knowledge which we thus rear is wholly 
our own, it addresses itself with great force and 
great fascination to our pride, and we stand every 
day and every hour in jeopardy of being led into 
error by our fondness for it — a fondness of the 
strength of which we ourselves are not always aware. 
Therefore, if we are to come to the study of na- 
ture, or any portion of nature, so aa\.o ^xo^V'Wi'Cftfe 
neatest extent by that study, boWi iox Xivm^ wv\ W 
eternity, we must come to it w\t\x tJaa ^\U^ Vs\ wx?c 



NATURAL THEOLOGY. 7 

hands ; and not content ourselves with the words 
of it on our lips as a dead letter, hut to have the 
understanding of it in our hearts as a living prin- 
ciple ; because there is one clement, in the study of 
nature as the workmanship of Almighty God, 
which we can find no where but in the Bible ; and 
if we have not this element exactly as the Bible in 
its true interpretation gives us, though we study 
the works of nature ever so closely, and according 
to knowledge of mere nature ever so reverendly, 
our conception of the God of nature can be nothing 
but the conception of an idol, any more than if it 
were a material idol, and set up in a heathen 
temple. 

That we live in a Christian country, and at a 
time when the light of Divine truth is very gene- 
rally diflFiised over the world, can avail us nothing, 
if we ourselves are not partakers in the light. On 
the contrary, we shall, for this very reason, stand 
condemned, where the heathen who had or have no 
access to the light of Divine truth will stand 
acquitted ; and therefore, in reference to the right 
study of nature, as well as to right conduct in 
every department, calling, and action of life, this 
important question should be ever present to our 
minds—" How shall we escape if we neglect the 
great salvation," which is revealed in the word of 
God, and sealed by the testimony of the death and 
resurrection of his only Son Jesus Christ, co-equal 
and co-eternal? 

Into any of our worldly pursuits this knowledge 
of the true God cannot enter as an element, any 
more than it can so enter into our contemplation 
of the productions and phenomevwi cjH xa^xixvi* 
Indeed^ it does not even teatify so cXewcV^ \.^ t^n«^^ 
truth, after that truth is knoYiii axA ie\\., «» '^ ^^'^' 



16 Wesley's philosophy. 

the most powerful telescope can discover in the 
clearest winter night, as well as to the substance of 
our own bodies ; and it reaches backward to the 
creation of every thing that has been made, and 
forward to the period when each, when any num- 
ber, or when all of them shall cease to exist, without 
any reference to the length of time which there is 
between any of those events and the moment of 
our present thought. 

We have deemed it necessary to go at some 
length into the explanation of this point, for several 
reasons : — First, the close connexion which a clear 
understanding of it has with our full and satisfac- 
tory enjoyment of this world, and of our hopes of 
eternal happiness in the world to come. Secondly, 
because in most books which profess to treat of the 
productions of nature in a philosophical manner, 
this point is almost wholly overlooked ; and this 
not merely in the common works which profess to 
convey only the natural knowledge of their subjects, 
without any reference to religion ; but also in the 
whole, or at least the greater number, of those 
which professedly treat of natural theology, which 
words are merely a technical expression for that 
knowledge of the Creator which is derivable from 
the study of his works. In most of those works, 
not excepting the ones which are written in the 
most pious spirit and the most pleasing manner, 
and which are therefore the best adapted for general 
readers, and the most generally read by the public, 
the whole line of the argument is substantially hu- 
man, and the conclusions not that the works of God 
are infinitely superior in kind to the works of man, 

but only that ihoiy are infinitely s\rpmor in degree. 

This does not differ much, in ^TOid^\fe Itwel \Xvfc 



NATURAL THEOLOGY. 17 

mythology of the more enlightened of the heathen 
nations. The workmanship of man is made the 
standard of comparison ; and unless we regard that 
which is compared as being exactly the same in 
kind with the standard of comparison, no rational 
comparison is made, and consequently no useful 
conclusion can be arrived at. It proves nothing 
with regard to the true God as revealed in the 
Bible, that some joint or organ of an animal is 
superior, be the superiority to what degree it may, 
to any piece of mechanism which could be con- 
trived and executed by human skill ; because the 
human part of the comparison demands those three 
pre-existent elements, in the absence of which we 
have shown that the true notion of creation by a 
God of infinite and eternal knowledge and power, 
substantially, and indeed wholly, consists. Thirdly, 
we have stated this point at some length, because 
the subjects upon which we have to touch in this 
volume are so exceedingly numerous, that it will 
be impossible for us to trace their connexion with 
that fulness which would be requisite. All that 
we can do is to mention a few of the leading points, 
for the purpose of attracting the attention of the 
reader ; and we must leave not only the details but 
the connexions and comparisons, to be sought for 
in more extensive works ; therefore we have judged 
it best to furnish the reader with a full view of the 
manner in which he is to proceed, in order duly to 
appreciate the wisdom of God as displayed in his 
works. 

Having done this, we shall very briefly notice 
the second grand use of the study of nature- 
name]/) that which bears upoii ovxt m'&XixvriCYWN. ^a* 
men for this world. This ia iax moT^ \.cai^^x«rj 

VOL. lU o 



18 Wesley's philosophy. 

than the former, hecause the use of it ceases when 
the mortal life terminates ; hut while that life lasts» 
it is more useful to us than any other suhject which 
applies to the whole of our sojourn here below. 
Nature is the store whence we obtain all the sub- 
stances which form the materials of our arts, in 
every thing that can either maintain our existence 
or administer to our comforts, individually or soci- 
ally. Of those materials many are found in the por- 
tion of nature which, in the common acceptation of 
the words, does not possess either the principle* of 
growth or the principle of Hfe ; others are the pro- 
duction of the principle of growth in the different 
vegetables and vegetable substances which compose 
so large a portion of our food, our clothing, and all - 
our accommodations ; and others again are the pro- 
ducts of both growth and life, in* the various animal 
substances which in all the three grand depart- 
ments of our comfortable subsistence, are scarcely 
less numerous or less necessary than the vegetable 
ones. These are about us every day, and neces- 
sarily occupy a great portion of our attention ; and 
in order that we may obtain them in the greatest 
abundance, the best condition, and the easiest man- 
ner, it is necessary for us to know, not merely the 
one from the other, but the nature of each, in so 
far as that knowledge is attainable. For a nume- 
rous and thickly inhabited population, there must 
be a great deal of artificial or procured culture of 
plants and rearing of animals ; because the very 
richest spots on the surface of the earth cannot, 
when in a state of nature, support any more human 
beings than a few wandering savages, leading mise- 
rable lives in the forests, axid ^\\xio^'^ Vo^^SaJaVj 
acquainted with no art save t\ia\, o^ ^^^Xxof^^v^Niafc 
wild animals — and one anot\ver« 



NATURAL THEOLOGY. 19 

But we stand as much indebted to nature for the 
knowledge of what we are to do with our materials 
after we have obtained them, as we do for obtain- 
ing a proper supply of the materials themselves. 
The operations which we perform in our arts, differ 
in mode and in object from the operations which oc- 
ctir in nature around us ; but the principles on which 
they depend are the same in both cases. The pro- 
perties of matter are the obstacles against which we 
have to work ; and as those properties are varied 
without end in different kinds of substances, or in 
different states of the same substance, we require to 
know what everything which comes under our hands 
can do, and also what it can bear. Nor must we in 
this respect delay the acquirement of the knowledge 
till we come to the particular case in which that 
knowledge is to be useful to us ; for were we to do 
this, we should be always unprepared for our work, 
and therefore incapable of doing it. The active part 
of our practical labour may in general be said to 
consist in motion, or change of place in some sub- 
ject and to some extent ; and though the ultimate 
action at which we wish to arrive may not be a 
simple motion, but a change in the texture, the 
colour, the shape, or some other of those attributes 
of a substance which are apparent to our senses, 
yet motion of some kind or other always enters 
more or less into even these instances. 

Now, our grand school for motion is the animal 
creation, because it is here that we find the 
nearest resemblances to that which we ourselves 
wish to perform ; and we find it varied in so many 
ways, performed by organs of such different size 
and iorm, &ad so perfectly peiformeim\)assvi\.^^S!iX 
or waste in any one case, thai \t \a \tsv^q^«^^ "^"^^^ 

c2 



20 Wesley's philosophy. 

a practical instatice can arise for which we have 
not an adequate lesson in one part or other bf thd 
living creation. We cannot, it is true, imitate the 
grand principle of life, in its development, its 
growth, and its faculties of repair and renovation. 
But still, if we take the individual action of the 
. animal, detached from its connexion, which is the 
view in which every individual case of our working 
presents itself, there is so far a similarity between 
them, as that the one may be our example and 
instructor, much in the same way as if it were a 
lesson of our own experience. This is the grand 
practical advantage which we derive from the phi- 
losophical study of the working of nature ; and if 
we do not possess ourselves of this, we are in a state 
of helpless ignorance, dependant upon our fellow 
men, and at the mercy of every caprice and every 
contingency. It is true that the life of no man is 
long enough, and the mind and body of no man is 
energetic enough, for obtaining the whole of this 
knowledge, or even any more than a very limited 
portion as compared with the whole. But still, 
though our lives are brief and our capacities limited, 
it is not the less our duty to apply them wisely and 
diligently, because whatever may be the duration of 
the one, or the energy of the other, they are the 
two elements of all that we can enjoy, and possess, 
and do in this world. Therefore, if we neglect any 
one opportunity by which life may be turned to 
better account, we are guilty of the destruction of 
so much of our own lives ; and thus the thought- 
less and the sluggard may be said, without any 
overstraining of the figure, to commit a partial 
suicide every day. 
Such are some of the leadmg m^wGemeoX.^ \*i ^ 
proper study and knowledge oi \Nie ^w:V% o'l 



USES, &C. OP INVERTEBRATED AKIMALS. 21 

creation, with reference both to the glory of God 
and the well-being of man ; and we shall now 
proceed to show how the study of the invertebrated 
animals is to be so managed as to be fruitful of 
those advantages. 



CHAPTER 11. 

OF THE USES AND NUMBERS OF THE INVERTEBRATED ANIMALS* 

In treating of the first of these, we shall enu- 
merate only a few particular instances ; and those 
which are best known, and consequently most 
familiar to the reader, are the best suited for this 
purpose. We shall take those instances quite at 
random ; and it may be proper to mention the 
range which we have in the taking of them. Now, 
every living creature which can come under our 
notice either with the naked eye or with the 
microscope, and which does not suckle its young, 
and is not a bird, a reptile, or a fish — as those four 
classes are briefly explained in the first volume of 
this treatise — is an invertebrated animal, and as such 
free to our choice as an instance. 

The first consideration of the usefulness, is use- 
fulness for the food of man ; and though in this 
respect the number of invertebrated animals which 
are employed in substance for the human food be 
comparatively limited, some of them are neither 
unimportant nor unwholesome. The numbers which 
are made use of in different countries, vary with 
the opinions and customs of the inhabvta.w.t"3> \ ^vA 
those used in the British islands axe cox!K^^\^'C\m^'^ 
&Wf and chieAy confined to moll^tsco^l>3 ^xA ctu* 



22 Wesley's philosophy. 

taceous animals, the leading characters of which will 
be explained afterwards ; and those which are made 
use of as food are principally obtained from the sea. 
Of moUusca, the oyster, the muscle, and generally 
speaking all those animals which come under the 
vulgar and incorrect appellation ot " shell fish," are 
examples. Some of the land moUusca — as for 
instance the large garden snail — are eaten by a few 
persons, and described as being very savoury and 
highly nutritious when properly dressed ; but there 
is a strong general prejudice against the use of 
such food, and they have besides a very offensive 
odour when dressed. The senses of smelling and 
tasting, as explained in a former part of this work, 
are in many respects connected with each other ; 
but still it does not follow that though a substance 
is offensive to the smell, it must necessarily be 
either ungrateful to the palate, or injurious to the 
health. The durion, a fruit which grows in the 
rich and beautiful islands to the south-east of Asia, 
and in a small portion of that peninsula which lies 
to the eastward of the bay of Bengal, has an odour 
so exceedingly rank and offensive, that no stranger 
can endure it for a considerable length of time ; 
but after this prejudice arising from the smell has 
once been fairly got the better of, the durion is 
relished and prized above every other vegetable 
production, even of that choice garden of the globe. 
The flavour is dehcious, the nutritive quality 
approaches the very richest concentrations which 
can be made of the choicest animal matter, and it 
is impossible for any one who has not actually 
Experienced it, to describe the delicious cooling 
JnHuence of this fruit upon tlio&e 'w\io> \iani ^sid 
nurtured in more temperate diinaXjea^ w^ \sta^o2ft% 



SHELL FISH. 23 

under the fervent heat of a vertical sun, in a 
cloudless sky, or even suffering under the internal 
heat of a high fever, which is hr from rare, 
especially among the European sojourners in those 
simny lands. 

Among the Crustacea, which, though generally 
speaking more highly flavoured, are understood not 
to be so easy of digestion as the esculent moUusca, 
may be enumerated the lobster, the crab, the cray- 
fish, the shrimp, and the prawn — indeed, all those 
animal productions of the deep which are called 
'* shell fish," and have the members of their bodies 
jointed or articulated. The numbers in which 
some of these are obtained, the rapidity of their 
growth, and the rate at which they increase, are 
truly astonishing — so much so as to give to the 
rocky shores of the ocean all the value of pasture 
lands or com fields, without rent and without 
labour. 

In this country there are, we believe, no other 
races of invertebrated animals which are used as 
human food, in the substance of their bodies ; but 
there are some which are used in foreign countries, 
among which we may mention the common migra- 
tory locust, which is so terrible a scourge in some 
of the warmer parts of the world, especially those 
which lie on the margins of the sandy deserts. 
When the locusts come in the fulness of their 
array, obscuring the sim and casting a deep twilight 
shadow upon the earth, while they are on their 
aerial march, they, when they alight on the ground, 
alight in depth as if they had been showered to the 
earth like snow on a wintry day ; and as the living 
accumulation rolls and tum\)\es OTi^»x^>\'^B»fe ^*cv\^ 
ware on a sea beach, it conswrneA cvcrj ^^ssc 



24 Wesley's philosophy. 

thing, so that for that season the place is a desert. 
But the people make reprisals by seizing the 
locusts in countless myriads, and preparing and 
preserving them by arts which they have learned, 
so that they are savoury and nutritious food, and in 
the comparatively bare places to which the ravages 
of locusts are in general, though not always, con- 
fined, they form no very bad substitute for that 
which is more immediately consumed by the locusts. 
There are countless numbers of invertebrated 
animals, which prey upon the vegetation of most 
countries ; and which, in peculiar states of the 
weather, commit the most destructive ravages ; and 
as we cannot suppose, consistently with the bene- 
volence of the general plan which runs through 
the whole system of creation, that any creatures 
which come habitually where man inhabits, come 
without being in some way capable of returning 
him a service in proportion to the mischief which 
they do in some particular way, it were highly 
desirable that more inquiry were made into the uses 
to which it may be possible to turn the countless 
swarms and multitudes of these creatures. 

We have some encouragement to the making of 

further experiments with regard to the use of a 

greater number of them as human food, in the fact 

that very many of them are eaten by vertebrated 

animals of all the four classes ; and that the flesh 

of those species which eat them is not only not upon 

the whole less wholesome and palatable than that of 

other animal feeders, but that it is more so in many 

instances. In the birds and the fishes especially, 

the feeders upon invertebrated animals are, generally 

speaking, very superior. We may YM^axvc^ \W 

snipes and woodcocks among birds, and V\v^ VcoviX. 



CLOTHING AND DYING. 25 

and salmon among fishes ; and the latter are so 
fond of invertebrated animals that anglers capture 
them by means of artificial or imitation fiies. 

In the substance of clothing, the number of 
animals of this grand division which are made use 
of is comparatively limited ; and though a kind of 
cloth or tissue is formed of the hyssi, or threads, 
which are spun by some of the shelled mollusca 
inhabiting the warmer seas, yet the silkworm stands 
so pre-eminent as to throw all the others com- 
pletely into the shade. This animal is improperly 
called a worm ; because it is not a worm, but the larva 
or first stage of life in the young of a species of 
moth, of which we shall have to take some further 
notice in a future chapter ; but the substance pro- 
duced by the labours of this little creature is so 
abundant, so beautiful, so durable, so pliant to the 
hand of the workman, and so ready to receive the 
colours of the dyer, that it forms the most beautiful 
article in the whole of that varied collection which 
is used for clothing and ornamenting the human 
body. 

There is one other use to man of the inver- 
tebrated animals, which it would be unjust to pass 
over ; and that is the colouring matter which they 
afford. The Tyrian purple, so celebrated in ancient 
times, as being used for tinting the robes of the 
most luxurious monarchs, was procured from 
certain species of shelled mollusca of comparatively 
small size, occasional specimens of which have been 
gathered upon the shores of France, and even of 
Britain ; and though other, and less laborious 
methods of obtaining colours of equal beauty, 
though perhaps not of equal dura\)\YvV^,\YaL"s^\>^^Xi 
invented in modem times, yet tW gexL«t^i ^'sivxsaa^- 



26 Wesley's philosophy. 

tion in which this purple was held is a lasting 
memorial of the value of invertebrated animals in 
the art of obtaining beautiful colours for sub- 
stances naturally colourless. 

The production of the Tyrian purple, as a branch 
of the arts, is now lost ; but we must not thence 
conclude that the obligations of the moderns to 
this grand division of animals, in respect of the 
production of colours, has been at all diminished. 
It has indeed been transferred to another class; 
and what the people of antiquity owed to mollusca, 
we of modem times owe to insects. But we still 
owe the most brilliant of our dyes to animals of 
this grand division. At a comparatively early 
period, it was found that a very beautiful red dye 
might be procured from a small insect called 
k&i'mes, which inhabits a peculiar species of oak, 
which grows near the shores of the Mediterranean, 
and in some other parts of the world ; and soon 
after South America had been known to Europeans, 
it was ascertained that another small insect, bearing 
some resemblance to the former, and inhabiting a 
very diflferent species of plant, furnished a dye of 
far greater brilliance. This is the cochineal insect, 
the substance of which now forms the most valuable 
dye-stuff used in the arts, because the colour which 
it strikes is equally beautiful and permanent. It is 
the scarlet of modern times, which, when properly 
dyed upon right materials, is understood to be far 
more brilliant, and not less durable, than the Tyrian 
purplg of the ancients ; and mixed with other 
colouring matters, it is made to impart every shade 
of colour^ in the producing of which red forms an 
element. 
Invertebrated animals are m ^euetiN. ol \ttc> 



PEARLS. 27 

small a size for forming any of the ordinary 
household articles. Some shells are, however, of 
such capacity as to contain a numher of gallons ; 
others are used for drinking cups, others again for 
blowing-horns and very many are assiduously col- 
lected on account of their beauty. 

Other shells, and shelly productions, are made 
use of for economical or for ornamental purposes, 
both in the more rude and the more advanced 
states of society. The fish hooks, the knives, and 
various other implements of the ruder people, are 
formed of what are termed pearl or pearly shells ; 
and there are some instances in which the lustre of a 
hook formed of this kind of shell is a sufficient 
attraction for the fish without any substance which 
a fish can eat affixed to it as a bait, much in the 
same manner as some of the fishes of our seas can 
be attracted and caught by means of a bit of red 
cloth fastened to the hook. 

In the ornamental arts, the same kind of shells 
which generally have a very beautiful irridiscence 
or play of colours in them, are employed for many 
purposes. They are properly called "mother of 
pearl," and this mother of pearl is made into 
buttons, paper-knives, knife handles, and various 
other little articles; and it is also extensively 
employed in inlayed wood work, for the finer and 
smaller cabinet articles, in which it has a very 
handsome appearance. 

The "peai'ls,** properly so called, which have 
been so much admired in all ages as articles of 
jewellery, are not necessarily obtained from those 
shells which are technically called pearl, or mother 
of pearl shells ; but they are obtaitieft. feooi ^^^ 
of the same kind and structure, anA "jiQ^wa^^ ^"^1 



28 Wesley's philosophy. 

by certain genera of the shelled mollusca, — in all 
instances, we believe, from bivalve shells, or those 
in which the shelly envelope which contains the 
animal, consists of two parts, which are united by 
a hinge at the one side, and open and shut at the 
other. Some of these are more nearly allied to 
our common oyster, and others to our common 
muscle, and some of them are found in the sea, 
and others in the fresh water. The pearls which 
are found in them also vary in beauty in the different 
species from which they are obtained ; but they are 
all substantially composed of the same kind of 
matter — namely, of thin layers of salts of lime, 
alternating with still thinner layers of animal sub- 
stance, chiefly of gelatine, or the same substance as 
glue ; and it is not unworthy of remark, that many 
of the gelatinous parts of animals, and even com- 
mon glue itself, when moderately fine and spread in 
thin layers, display this irridiscence, or play of 
colours, as the light falls differently upon them. 
The finest pearls are found in the seas of tropical 
countries, and in the shells of animals nearly allied 
to the oyster tribe ; but there are also pearls, of no 
mean size or appearance, found in the shells of the 
common horse muscle, which is a molluscous 
animal of considerable size and of very offensive 
odour, and not eatable, which inhabits many of the 
slow-running rivers of the British islands, in those 
of them which are at no very great distance from 
parts the sea, but not absolutely in the salt or near the 
brackish water. Those shells are like those of the 
common esculent muscle which inhabits the sea, 
oi a. dark colour externally ; but they are of pearly 
lustre within. They stand m t\ie "W^o^ qI 'Ccia 
rivers, with the hinge end in t\ie xaMA> ^^^ 'Oaa 



PEARLS. 29 

upper ends of the shells gaping open, m order to 
catch those substances upon which they feed. The 
usual method of catching them is very simple. It 
is done by means of a long slender stick, which is 
introduced into the opening formed by the gaping 
shells ; and when the stick is inserted, the animal 
closes the shells upon it with so much force, that 
it is easily thrown on the bank, by simply jerking 
up the stick. A pearl is not found in every muscle, 
or even in one in a hundred, so that the fishing is 
far from a profitable one, and is not carried on in 
any of our rivers as a regular employment at 
which the person who follows it can find a living ; 
but rather by those who have leisure, as a mere 
matter of amusement; and the pearls which are 
found in this way are more matters of curiosity 
than of real value. We have seen one of the size 
of a common pea, and not badly formed, although 
too dingy in the colour to be of very much 
value, taken from a horse muscle in the river 
Conan, in Rosshire, in the north of Scotland; 
but we believe that the quantity of pearls obtained, 
in that, or in any other of the British rivers, would 
not remunerate the very humblest labourer who 
could be employed in searching for thenu 

On the pearl banks in the tropical seas, the case is 
different, and there the pearl fishery is carried on as 
a regular trade, and by no means an unprofitable one. 
But the labour of those who are more immediately 
engaged in it is exceedingly severe, and can hardly 
be considered to accord with our notions of the 
justifiable employment of human beings. The 
pearl oysters are dived for in a considerable number 
of fathoms* depth of water, and tYve Ae^t^\i\. ol "Cwi 
divers 18 facilitated by vreiglita a\.\aj;i^i^^ \a 'Cwivt 



32 Wesley's philosophy. 

the surface of some plaster which will make it 
adhere to the skin till the powder takes effect. 
This is done by raising the cuticle, and accumu- 
lating a quantity of serous or lymphatic matter under 
it ; and the relief produced the moment that the 
cuticle, or as it is termed the blister, risesp is often 
very great. Several species of invertebrated ani- 
mals have been from time to time proposed to be- 
taken internally as specific remedies for peculiar 
diseases ; but it does not appear that those recom- 
mendations have in any one case been grounded 
on philosophical principles, or the results of proper 
inquiry ; and therefore they belong to the practice 
of quackery rather than to the art of medicine. 

There are some substances still to be mentioned 
as useful in domestic economy and in the arts, 
which, though they cannot be said to be actually 
produced by invertebrated animals, are yet collected 
and prepared by them. Of these we may mention 
as instances, honey, wax, and gumlac. The first 
two are the produce of the labours of the bee, 
which we shall have to notice in its place ; but it is 
not a little remarkable that honey bees, of some 
variety or other, are found in almost every quarter 
of the world, and in wild and wooded districts 
they often literally fill the hollow trees with their 
stores and their swarms. The quantity of honey 
which is thus produced is immense, and that of 
wax, which composes the cells in which the young 
bees are reared, and the stores of honey treasured 
up for food at those seasons when there is none to 
be found in the fields. The use of the bee in the 
economy of nature is very great ; and we might 
infer this from its numbers and \\.^ ^eii'e.t^V dktri- 
bution, without taking into conaidetaNAOXL ^^ N^vsa 



BEES AND HONEY. 38 

of that which it produces. Both the honey and 
the wax are ohtained from plants, chiefly, if no^ 
entirely, from flowers ; and the probability is, that 
they are originally very nearly the same substance, 
only the wax undergoes a sort of process of secre- 
tion, while the honey, as it is taken from the nec- 
taries or bottoms of the cups of flowers, is conveyed 
at once to a little bag within the bee, which is a 
reservoir and not a digestive organ ; and thus the 
honey can be discharged into the cells, or one bee 
can feed another with the honey quite unaltered. 
Before the use of sugar became so common as it 
now is in this coimtry, honey was the principal 
article used as a sweetener ; and it is still, the 
principal substance used for this purpose in those 
countries where bees in a wild state are numerous ; 
and where sugar, which can be grown only in warm 
climates, is not obtainable without great expense of 
carriage. This is remarkably the case in Russia, the 
swampy parts of which contain few inhabitants, 
but many flowering shrubs, which blossom at 'a 
dififerent season than the common herbaceous pUnts 
with which they are intermixed, and therefore the 
bees find in such countries a full supply for a 
much greater portion of the year, than they do in 
countries where there is only one season of bloom 
in the course of the summer. We have a confirm- 
ation of this in our own country, along what may 
be considered as the boundary of the Highlands 
and the Lowlands, partially in the North of Eng- 
land, and much more completely along the southern 
margin of the Grampians in Scotland. At this place, 
the Highland and Lowland characters altArv!kA.tA 
with each other along the line — ^lYie "sa^e^^a^vjo!^^*^ 
the Lowland cliaracter, clpid_5id^ YvetWcftWva* Ne%^ 

VOL. u. jj, - 



34 WESL£Y*S PHILOSOPHY. 

tation only, and blooming in general before mid- 
summer ; while the hill is Highland in its character, 
clad with heather, and does not come into bloom until 
the blossoms of the valley are gone. Those places 
are not the pasture-range of a bee distant from each 
other, for bees take long flights in quest of food ; 
and therefore, in such situations, bees enjoy a 
double harvest ; smd consequently those who keep 
them for economical purposes derive nearly double 
the advantage which could be derived in a situation 
where the whole surface within the bees' range 
was either of the one character singly, or of the 
other. 

That the honey is very little changed by any 
operation which the bee performs on it, is proved 
by the fact that the honey always partakes of the 
qualities of the plant from which it is obtained. 
From flowers of herbaceous plants which are rank, 
scentless, and tasteless, the honey is insipid; 
whereas, from plants which have a pungent odour, 
and such an odour is generally accompanied by a 
considerable pungency of taste, the honey is much 
more fragrant and racy. Also, if the plants from 
which the honey is taken have any poisonous qiia- 
lity, the honey itself partakes of that quality. In 
the celebrated retreat of the ten thousand recorded 
by Xenophon, the army were severely afflicted in 
consequence of eating honey in the hills and 
marshes of Pontus ; and it is known that the prin* 
cipal flowering shrubs in that country. Azalea 
Pontica and Rhododendron Ponticuniy though 
plants of great beauty, and abounding so much 
j'n honey as to smeU strongly of it when in 
/lower, are poisonous. Ind^e^ \)cv^ ^"W^^t ^^ ^Jaa 
rhododendron family are sMS^\e\ov3a> \iQ\.^\^^\»xA- 



BEES AND HONEY. 35 

ing their beauty and the immense number of their 
flowers, and consequently travellers always run a 
risk if they eat wild honey in countries which are 
dad with these plants ; and yet honey is so abun- 
dant, and, generally speaking, so accessible in places 
of this kind, that it is difficult to resist the tempt- 
ation of it, accompanied as it is by miles of thickly 
set flowers, often emitting a rich, but always 
rather a sickly perfume. 

With the heath family, some of which smell even 
more strongly of honey than the plants just men- 
tioned, the case is difierent; and hence, on our 
own mountains, on those of the south of £urope, 
and in extensive districts of Southern Africa, 
where heath of one species or other is the prevail- 
ing shrub, the honey is always as safe as it is deli- 
cious. It has not been ascertained what character 
honey obtained from the Epacris family, which hold 
the same place as the heaths do with us, possesses ; 
but it is not known that any of the family is poi- 
sonous ; and some of them have edible fruil^ though 
very inferior to the berries of many of our heaths. 

In collecting their stores of honey, bees do not 
rob the blossoms, but rather tend greatly to pro- 
mote their fertility ; and were it not that the bees 
assist in bringing into contact with each other 
those parts of the flower whose contact is neces- 
sary to its fruitfulness, it is highly probable, nay 
almost certain, that very many flowers would be 
barren, not only to the diminution of those plants 
on which they grow, but to the birds which feed 
on the surplus seeds of the plants, and of every 
purpose wluch the plants answer in natvue. TVsaSk 
we £nd that in the arrangements oi naXAXC^ »Cwi^^ 
things which, on a first view of tYie xix^.\\.et, «^^^«t 

d2 



36 Wesley's philosophy. 

to have comparatively little connectioD, are really, 
as parts of the grand whole, as dependent upon 
each other as are the several parts of the body of a 
single animal, or of the structure of a single plant. 

It is not understood that the wax of the bees 
which gather their honey from poisonous plants, 
partakes of the same deleterious properties as the 
honey ; and this is one reason for concluding that 
the wax undergoes a sort of elaboration by the bee, 
while the honey remains in the same state as it is 
taken from the flower. Wax, as well as honey, is 
obtained from other parts of plants besides the 
flowers ; and there are several plants which pro-, 
duce, without any animal assistance, a substance 
very much resembling bees' wax. 

Gumlac is produced on the branches of trees by 
a very small insect ; and it is perhaps to be re- 
garded as a vegetable production, though the 
action of the insect upon the tree is necessary for 
the production of it. It consists of a very hard 
gum combined with colouring matter; and the 
colouring matter may be separated, in which state 
it is used in dying. It forms a durable red, but not 
a very bright one. It is chiefly obtained from the 
eastern parts of Asia. The inhabitants of those 
countries use it extensively as a varnish ; and it is 
applied to the same purpose by European artists. 

Such are a few instances of the use to man of 
the invertebrated animals ; and we have next to 
glance very briefly at their numbers, and distribu- 
tion over the earth, according to the diflerent 
climates and seasons of the several regions. As 
these animals have not the nervous system so fully 
developed as the vertebrated one^, «»^ ^^ "Owe^ ^^ 
without a distinct and specV^c XitaMi^ ^^ tclvj ^^^ss^n 



ANIMAL LIFE. 37 

elude that, in them, the system of sensation, which 
we have considered as the peculiarly characteristic 
system of animals, is much less perfect than in the 
oLrs. This is an important A of their general 
character, and one which can he turned to no 
small account in forming a judgment with regard 
to their relations to climate and season. 

The system of sensation being the proper animal 
one, and the animal being of all material creatures 
the farthest removed ft*om mere matter in a dead 
or passive state, it necessarily follows that the more 
peifect the system of the animal the greater are its 
resources, and the better it is able to controul or 
contend with those causes, whatever they may be, 
which afifect matter merely as matter. On the 
other hand, we may just as naturally take the 
inverse view, and conclude that in proportion as 
there is development and perfection in the system 
of sensation in any animal, or race of animals, 
that animal, or that race, is more under the 
«ontroul of those causes which act upon matter 
considered in its simple and passive state. And 
when we direct our attention to the distribution 
of vertebrated or invertebrated animals, we find 
that it is in perfect accordance with this princi- 
ple, and therefore a complete confirmation of it. 
In our comparison of place with place, according 
to position on the globe, or to season, we must 
leave the sea in a great measure out of the ques- 
tion ; because the seasonal changes of the sea are 
very trifling compared with those of the land ; and 
80 also are its variations in different latitudes. The 
reasons of this permanence in the state ot 1\\& ^^.'^ 
as compared with that of the land, N<j'^\i^ xikSjlCvifc^ 
la 4:be third rolume of tlus, treat\ae> 'w\l^\i ^^ ^^ 



38 Wesley's philosophy. 

have to cast a passing glance on the world of 
waters. But it is necessary that even now we 
should point out this distinction hetween the cli- 
matal and seasonal changes of the sea and those of 
the land, in order that we may come to a right 
understanding as to why animals of the same class 
inhabiting the one of them should be so differently 
distributed from those inhabiting the other. 

That the tropical seas are more full of every 
kind of life than those of the high latitudes, and 
that some kinds of life are much more developed 
in the former than in the latter, is true ; but it is 
equally true that, in respect of invertebrated ani- 
mals especially, the Polar seas are much more 
populous than the Polar land. It is also true that 
the inhabitants of the Polar seas, though they 
breed annually, as is the case with most animals, 
especially those of high latitudes ; yet, as races, 
they are perennial in the sea, while they are sea- 
sonal on the land, disappearing in the severity of 
the winter, either by burying themselves in the 
earth, creeping into other hiding places, or leaving 
only in places fitted for their being hatched those 
eggs which are to people the locality anew, when 
the sun of the returning summer calls them into 
life. So remarkable is the difference between the 
sea and the land in this respect, that we have many 
of the invertebrated productions of the sea in the 
finest perfection during the winter months, and 
quite unaffected by the difference between a mild 
winter and a severe one ; whereas, if the winter is 
moderately severe, not a single invertebrated ani- 
mal is to he found on the land. 
. In tropical countries, wYveT"e V\i«^ ^t^ ^^s^^ «il- 
Viremes of season produced "Vsj \\x^ ^\«ra»iC\^scL f& 



INDESTRUCTIBILITl^ OF GERMS. 39 

copious rains and burning droughts, just as the 
extremes of season in high latitudes are produced 
by summer heat and winter cold, the former accom- 
panied by showers of rain, and the latter by snow 
storms ; there is also a seasonal appearance and 
disappearance of very many of the invertebrated 
animals. Those animals, however, differ so much 
from each other, in their form, the nature of their 
covering, the places which they inhabit, the sub* 
stances on which they feed, the length of their 
average lives, and all parts of their economy, that 
it is impossible to make any general statement 
which will apply to even all the land ones, in 
almost any latitude. 

There is one remarkable circumstance which runs 
very generally through the whole grand division, 
and that is the power which they have, in some 
state or stage of their lives, of resisting the common 
causes of destruction. It does not appear that any 
length of time will destroy the vitality of the eggs, 
at least many of them, if those eggs are placed in 
circumstances unfavourable to the development 
of the germ of life which is in them. Nor 
can we help feeling perfectly astonished that minute 
things, of which when fully grown a thousand, or 
even many thousands taken together, would not 
equal in volume an ordinary pin's head, should be 
in their rudimental and of course still smaller state 
more indestructible than the strongest, the most 
powerful, and the longest lived of the mammalia. 
We come to a certain approach to this endurance 
at what may be considered the terminating links of 
all the four classes of vertebrated animals^ with the 
exception perhaps of the class ot \;\Td&^ ^^^^-^ 
bew£;^ endowed with greater po^eia o^ \ao>jtfya ^«r 



I 



40 Wesley's philosophy* 

any of the others, are better fitted for shifting their 
quarters according as the season requires. Some 
of the mammalia which hybernate, or pass the 
winter in a dormant state ; some of the reptiles, as 
for instance the toad ; and some of the fishes, as for 
instance the eel, in certain latitudes, are capable of 
remaining for a long time without food ; and others, 
such as the frog, can bear very severe cold. It does 
not appear, however, that any of these can endure 
a temperature of the whole body lower than that 
of freezing, for any length of time, and afterwards 
revive ; and we know that eels, in shallow water 
where there is no mud at the bottom in which they 
can bury themselves, are very liable to be killed 
by severe frosts. We are, however, speaking of 
the power of endurance, not as it exists in the full 
grown animal, but as it exists in the germ ; because 
there are many animals, the activity of whose 
system generates heat sufficient to protect them 
under constant exposure to an atmosphere which 
is cold enough to freeze mercury, and into which 
if even warm water is projected to a considerable 
height, it will fall rattling to the ground in a 
shower of ice. The undeveloped germ, which we 
are to regard as being passive, is the state in which 
to compare the relative power of endurance in 
different races of animals ; for the germ is as it 
were the general character of the animal, unaffected 
by any advantage or disadvantage which it may 
derive from its development, or the mode and cir- 
cumstances in which that development is brought 
about. Now, it is known that the germ of no 
rertebrated animal can endure either the tempe- 
rature of boiling water, or ihal oi ite^iaxv^^ Iwi ^xn.'^ 
length of iimej and retain its V\\.aX\\.^. ^^ ^^ 



ANIMALCULA. 41 

Other hand, the germs of very many of the inver- 
tebrated animals can endure a temperature much 
higher than boiling heat, or much lower than 

'^freezing cold, without the slightest injury. 

This is a very singular difference between the 
two grand divisions of animals in what may be con- 
sidered as their most defenceless states ; and we 
shall immediately see how necessary it is to the 
maintenance of the system of nature ; and that the 
Creator is no where more clearly manifested than 
in those general adaptations which fit them all for 
their several purposes in the accomplishment of 
His good purpose — for showing forth His glory, 
and for administering to the service and comfort 
of man. 

From what we have said of the comparatively 
inferior development of the system of sensation in 
the invertebrated animals, and the consequent 
power which climate and seasons have over them, 
more than they have over the vertebrated animals, 
it became necessary that the means of preservation 
in the race should be strengthened in the same pro- 
portion as those powers are weakened in the indi- 
vidual. When a stagnant pool is dried up by the 
heat of summer, it is probable that the mortality 
thereby produced is greater than if the whole 
vertebrated animals of a country were at once 
destroyed ; but no sooner does a shower of rain 
come, and a certain degree of putrefaction take 
place in the aquatic plants, . than the pool is as 
thickly-peopled with those microscopic inhabitants 
as ever. So also if a little of the paste of flour, 
which has been boiled ever so long in tha TaakYJ^^^ 
2w allowed to become sour, and ftiiiii tdlyrj^^ ^SsOa 

Tvater, the mixture, when a Tuicro^co^^ oS. %>aSv- 



42 Wesley's philosophy. 

dent magnifying power is applied to it, wiU appear 
to be composed almost entirely of little eels, very 
handsomely formed, and moving about with great 
activity. Allow the same mixture of paste and. 
water to become solid by drought, or by freezing, 
and let it be again moistened or thawed, and it will 
be as completely peopled as ever with its microscopic 
inhabitants. 

There is nothing in the mere putrefaction of 
vegetable matter, in the pool in the one case, or in 
the souring and moistening of an admixture of the 
flour of wheat and water in the other which can, 
by possibility, produce a single germ of an animal, 
even though that animal were supposed to be 
diminished a thousand or a million fold beyond 
the most minute creature which microscopes of the 
present construction can bring under our notice. 
If we admit the possibility of this in one case, we 
must admit it in every case ; because the question 
is not one of change of size, but of change of 
matter ; and the cause of change of size is common 
to them all ; for there is no question that we can 
in thought trace back the original germ of even the 
largest animal to a period at which we can assign 
it only an atomic bulk, that is, a bulk less than any 
specific dimensions to which we can give a name 
in language. In the cases of the larger animals, 
and also of the plants upon which we can make 
experiments and observations with the naked eye 
and in the ordinary course of our working, we find 
that there are no means by which one dfstinct 
species can be changed to another, how nearly 
fioever they may be allied to each other in their 
structure and habits ; and li 1i\i\a)oe Xxxxa Vcl cs«t^ 
case of nature which we caa\>TOi^ia2aV^ \ai^«t^\a 



SMALL ANIMALS. 43 

examination, it is contrary to every principle of 
philosophy, and every rule of judgment and of action 
in common life, to suppose that it does not hold 
equally with regard to the rest ; and that it is phy- 
sically impossible for us to obtain a plant or an 
animal of any class, or of any species whatever, 
whether large or small, except from a fertile germ 
of the very same species, retaining its principle of 
vitality,, and placed in circumstances favourable tp 
its development. 

Now, in the case of the little creatures which we 
find in the sour paste, the germs must have been 
boiled, and in one of the forms of the case they 
must have been frozen, and yet we find that the 
principle of life in them was not destroyed by either 
of those means ; nor are we warranted to con- 
clude that those exceedingly small germs would be 
destroyed— that is, deprived of the power of being 
again awakened with living action — even though 
exposed for thousands of years to the heat of a 
furnace, or to cold exceeding any with which we 
are acquainted. 

This is a very wonderful part of the physiology 
of creation ; and it is as instructive as it is wonderful. 
In proportion as the living creature is more deve- 
loped in its organization, and more constantly 
energetic in all its functions, it is the more subject 
to casualty, stands in more constant need of reno- 
vation by food, and revival by the influence of the 
atmosphere ; while, on the other hand, as we 
descend in the scale of development and of action, 
we find that the creature can endure longer and 
longer death-like pauses in its state \ zsA. ^Vx^w ^^ 
come to the very simplest condition an^ ^^ \s!lw»^ 
minute form, we find that ab&olate dL<&«\x>0LOC\^'tL 'Sa 



44 W£SLEY*S PHILOSOPHY. 

a matter not easily to be effected. This is true in 
the vegetable world as well as in the animal : for 
while the life of the stately palm is confined to a 
single bud on the top ; and the pine, which in some 
countries, raises its spiry form to the height of two 
or three hundred feet, is dependent on a single ter- 
minal bud at the extremity of the ramification of 
the branches ; the hard lichen, which can barely be 
distinguished from the stone upon which it grows, 
is alive, and capable of producing the entire plant 
anew, in almost every part of its substance ; and 
some of those which are still more minute, such aiB 
the moulds, that appear but as a stain on the sur- 
faces of substances, absolutely appear to be sown 
on the viewless air ; because, if exposed to the 
common action of the weather, there is not 
a substance adapted for supporting those very 
minute plants which is not very speedily covered 
with them. There is scarcely a remain of any 
larger and more developed animal or vegetable, 
which has not one of these little parasites 
peculiar to it. It may be, for instance, the bone of 
an animal, a deca3ring leaf, or the stem of a sickly 
plant, each of which, generally speaking, has its 
appropriate parasite, which helps the decaying 
matter to return again to another kind of life ; and 
though the particular substance may be shut out 
from the access of every imaginable thing save 
the all-pervading atmosphere, no sooner does it 
arrive at that stage of decay in which it is fit for 
becoming a soil to the new plant, or a pasture to 
the new animal, than the plant or the animal is 
there, to take advantage of it, and prevent it from 
becoming an unprofitable tYang m \)aft 'vou^et^ 
Bjrstem of the universe. The mouXi^^iVi'fck^^^'^^w^ 



MOULDS. 45 

lining the cells which contain the seedsof an apple^ 
of which the integument and the pulp are entire to 
our inspection, as well as the hard lining of the 
cell, is a remarkahle instance. Nor is it less 
wonderful, why, at one stage of decay in a cheese, 
the fissures in the very centre of it should hecome 
covered with a peculiar mould ; that this should he 
brought about by artificial means ; or that in other 
stages of decay in the same substance, it should 
become thickly peopled with colonies of the cheese- 
mite, of whose progression towards their new 
settlement no observation of man can find the 
slightest trace. 

In this, there is much matter of delightftil con- 
templation for the intelligent mind ; because here 
there is evidence, that there is in the material cre- 
ation itself, and independently of immaterial and 
immortal being, something more than mere matter, 
as palpable to our senses ; and as we cannot even 
imagine the matter to be self-existent, so no more 
can we imagine this addition to matter to be self- 
existent, or to be brought about by matter itself. 
There is, therefore, the clearest evidence of a 
creation of hfe, as well as of the substance which, 
during its continuance, the individual life keeps under 
its dominion. The forms and modes of this 
Hfe, whether we consider it as the life of growth 
only in the vegetable, or as the life of growth and 
sensation in the animal, are varied without end. But 
in all these variations there is a constancy in the 
species, so that the one can no more pass into and 
become the other, than men can ** gather grapes 
of thorns, or figs of thistles." There is a certain 
phiy, or yielding in the whole sy^Vem^Xs^ TDL^'axi& ^\ 
wblcb the various parts, VilYim cetVaxa. Xsas^a^ 



46 WESLEY'S PHILOSOPHY. 

accommodate each other ; and thus, under a certam 
range of varying circumstances, the whole can 
work together. But in every case there is a 
harrier heyond which they cannot pass ; and when, 
in the case of either plant or animal, this harrier is 
once arrived at, the species can exist no longer ; 
and, therefore, it yields to the general. law which 
the Almighty has given to the whole, and so 
ceases to he. The earth, which is the general 
grave of material life, as it is the general womh 
and the general nurse, furnishes us with many 
evidences of this truth, l)y showing us the remains 
of races huried deep in the accumulation of ruhbish, 
or deeper still in the substance of rock, of which 
the living and the growing world, as at present pal- 
pable to our senses, does not furnish a single 
specimen. We, in these northern countries, find 
in the great charnel-house of the earth the remains 
of plants and of animals, analogous in their 
general nature, but varying in the particular so as 
to adapt them to the difference of climate, to those 
which are now to be met with only in tropical 
climes ; and when we go to more solid formations, 
to which an older date must be assigned, we find 
remains of singular form and character, of which 
there is not now a single type to be met with in 
the living state: animals of large dimensions, 
which had been furnished with wings, far exceeding 
in dimensions and in power the wings of eagles, 
furnished with implements at the extremities or on 
the joints of those wings, with claws like the claws 
of lions, and armed with jaws more produced and 
more formidable than the jaws of crocodiles. But, 
while we meet with those memona^^ oi eiLtmct 
races among vertebrated amma\S) t\i^i^ Va wo %\xOci 



FOSSIL SHELLS. 47 

Tariation between the invertebrated animals which 
appear to be lost, and those which still exist. It 
is true that in many situations we find the shells of 
invertebrated animals forming constituent parts of 
mountain rocks, thousands of feet above the present 
level of the sea ; and from the clearest analogies 
which we can trace those shells must have belonged 
to animals which not only inhabited the sea, but 
were tenants of the deep; but even in these, 
there is such a correspondence with living species, 
as shows that the invertebrated animals are not 
subject to such changes, or so much dependant upon 
the temporary state of our globe, as those which 
have internal bones and warm blood. 

It is impossible for us, limited as our powers of 
observation are^ to scrutinize so minutely into the 
system of creation as to see the uses of the whole, 
or even of one division of the invertebrated tribes. 
But we are warranted in concluding generally, that 
as are the numbers so is the use; and conse- 
quently, as these are, beyond all arithmetic, the 
most numerous of animated beings, they must be in 
the general system of nature the most useful. 

We find a farther proof of this, in the more gene- 
ral accordance which they have with the seasonal 
changes of nature than the vertebrated classes. 
Within the tropics, and in situations where a con- 
stant supply of humidity gives continual growth to 
vegetation, we find those animals quite perennial ; 
and a caterpillar, of some one species of butterfly or 
moth, always ready to consume every superabun- 
dant leaf or other vegetable production, so that the 
quantity brought forward to maturity may not 
exceed the means which tbeie ate ol ^^XstYW^'^ 
tbem* In tboae regions of t\ie «i.m^ ^wsifc'^ ^ri^^ 



48 Wesley's philosophy. 

are subject to seasonal burnings of droughty we find 
a very different action of the invertebrated animals, 
but an action not less fitted for the general pre- 
servation, perfection, and beauty of the system of 
nature. Where there are the most extreme alterna- 
tions of seasonal rain, and seasonal drought, there 
is of necessity the most rapid growth of vegetables 
in the rainy season, and the greatest dearth and de- 
struction when the weather is dry. Such a state of 
things requires a different species and condition of 
invertebrated animals for consuming the refuse, 
than is required to consume the surplus leaf. Ac- 
cordingly we find, that, in such places, the different 
species of insects known by the name of white ants 
are provided in multitudes which no arithmetic can 
express; and that these do not attack and prey 
upon leaves or flowers, or living vegetation of any 
kind, but the boles and branches, the solid timber 
of trees, after the growth has ceased, and unless it 
were removed the rotten trunk would encumber 
the earth as an unseemly thing. This takes place 
in all tropical and warm countries, which have the 
seasons marked by rain and drought, in the manner 
which we have mentioned ; and, as we shall after- 
wards have occasion briefly to notice, the numbers, 
the economy, and the activity of those little crea-i 
tures, are beyond anything which, from our expe- 
rience in temperate climates, we could be lead to 
suppose. Many of them are things of darkness, in 
all probability without any organs of sight, of 
which, in digging into the solid timber of trees, 
they have no need ; and thus, when they pass from 
one tree to another, they do so under a covert- way, 
which thejr prepare for themseVves as \)ae^ ^<iN^Mce% 
-fo this maDDer they not only xe^vxfie \a ^^^«ip ^ 



' CONSUMPTION OF WOOD. 49 

the dead trunks and branches which occur in the 
tropical forests ; but, true to their instinct, tliey 
attack the posts of houses and palings, and, in 
short, every species of dead and dry vegetable 
matter, and turn them into dust with a rapidity 
which, if it were not experienced^ would not be cre- 
dited. In the British colonies of Australia, a 
country in which there is a remarkable contrast of 
drought and rain, it often happens that, in brief 
space, all the pillars of a wooden portico, or all the 
posts of a wooden fence, are found crumbled to 
dust, with the exception of a Uttle pellicle inside the 
paint with which they are covered, while not a 
symptom of decay appears on the outside, and not 
a trace can be found of the coming or the working 
of the destroyers. 

This process of the consumption of solid vegeta- 
ble matter by small invertebrated animals is pecu- 
liar to the warm countries ; and when we consider 
it, we cannot but perceive that it is a beautiful 
provision of nature. It is a law, which runs uni- 
versally through the whole series of growing and 
living nature, that no one race, either of plants or 
of animals, can be supported on its own ruins. 
There are no doubt instances of cannibalism, but 
these are violations of the law of nature, and not 
observances of it ; and it is remarkable that, among 
animals, those which are most prone to eat their 
own young in the early stages of their existence, 
are the miscellaneous feeders, and not the regular 
animals of prey, whose habit it is to kill whatever 
they eat. There is no one race which could feed 
upon itself, so as thereby to be maintained ; and 
ibis proves the unity of creatioii, \>^ ^owvxi^'W^ 
much one must be dependent upon oxkiOiO^^t* ^^ 

VOL. II. ^ 



50 WESLET*S PHTLOSOPHT* 

in those fervid climes where, during the rainy 
season, there is so excellent a production of yegeta- 
hle matter, and during the dry season such a decay 
and death of the same, if there were no means of 
changing the condition of the matter which is left 
hy the decay, the surface of the earth would he so 
loaded with the dead matter of that kind of vege- 
tation for which it is hest adapted, that, in the 
course of a very short time, it would become unfit 
for continuing the production. The myriads of 
invertebrated animals which consume the dead and 
dying timber of the tropical forests are appointed by 
Heaven to prevent this catastrophe ; and they pro- 
duce such a change on the substance of the timber, 
as renders it a fit manure for a succession of the 
very same species. By this beautiful adaptation, the 
system is continued in a working state ; and year 
after year, and age after age, we find in every situ- 
ation in such countries the tree and the plant, for 
which the physical circumstances of the country are 
best adapted; and thus those countless invertebrated 
animals which, to the unreflecting observer, appear 
to be destroyers, and destroyers only, are really the 
preservers of the system of life and of growth. 

As we leave the regions of the equator, and 
come into those in which there are seasonal changes 
of the year, independently altogether of rain and 
drought, we find a different condition of the inver- 
tebrated animals, more especially of those races of 
them which appear to be in a peculiar manner set 
over the vegetable world, to regulate the exuber- 
ance of its growth, so that the whole may be made 
conducive to the greatest advantage and beauty. 
M?r must we consider it as an mw^xi^c\Ao\i q^ \ke 
^j^stem o£flature, that there is a conavasies ^^^ovslXr^ 



EXCESS OF PRODUCTION. 51 

to every thing which nature produces ; for it is in 
this that the unity and heauty of the system con- 
sist. Of every species, whether animal or vege- 
table, there is a means of production far beyond 
what that species requires in the due balance of all 
the productions of nature. There are, for instance, 
some fishes which, if they were to go on multiplying 
to the full extent of their power, without any means 
of destruction, for a very limited number of years, 
not more than half a century, would suffice to turn 
into their own substance, not only the whole of the 
matter which is contained in the earth, but the 
whole matter of our system, sun, planets, and all. 
In like manner, there are many of the invertebrated 
animals, and those even of small size, which are 
produced in such numbers and so rapidly, that if 
there were no check to the production, they would 
get the mastery of all the rest of nature, and in a 
short time consume every thing else ; nor would it 
be long after this till they themselves also would 
perish, for as we have already said, and as any one 
who chooses to consider the subject may find, there 
is no race of beings which can of itself maintain itself. 
It is this dependance of all the children of nature 
upon each other, which is the most valuable lesson 
that the system gives us ; and it is not confined to 
those which are in the same locality, or, as we 
would say, in juxta-position with each other, as 
feeder and food ; for there is a reciprocity between 
different climates and different latitudes, and also 
between the land and the waters, by means of which 
the one is mutually beneficial to the other, just as 
the pasturing of sheep brings a kindly grass ui^on 
die common, and the grass so \>YO\x!^c^ 'CiQN^x^^'^ 
And fattens the sheep in return* 

s2 



52 Wesley's philosophy. 

When we com^into the temperate zones we 
find that the wa^hfulness of the invertehrated 
animals over vegetation, is of a different kind from 
what it is in the regions of the equator. In those 
latitudes there is a lea^s winter, during which 
vegetation is inactive ; and alternating with this 
there is a summer of long days, during which it is 
comparati3(«)^vigorous. In such situations, how- 
ever, it^s Jhe annual growth of .the tree, and not 
the permanent part of it which requires to be kept 
down^ -and a principal part of this annual produc- 
tion is t^e deciduous leaf. Therefore, in such lati- 
tudes, t)I^ caterpillar which consumes the leaf is the 
principal invertehrated animal which is set over the 
tree. And we find in such climates a very remark- 
able manner in which ]those caterpillars work ac- 
cording to the changes of the weather. In the early 
part of the season, if dry and withering winds from 
the east blight the leaves, and bring on in their 
juices the same sort of chemical action which takes 
place when, in due season, the leaf has performed 
its office, and is preparing to heal off, in order to 
leave to the storm only that part of the tree which 
is clad in armour against the violence of the storm 
— if this happens, then we find that the eggs of the 
caterpillars are quickened in -myriads, and those 
leaves which would act as poisons to their parent 
trees, by bringing winter upon them before summer 
had commenced, are very speedily consumed, and 
the strength of the tree is not exhausted in vain 
efforts to continue that, which from the injury it 
has received, would be of no value. If this takes 
place at a sufficiently early period of the season, 
the tree buds again, and *\U igtQ^^%a^ ^wm^ 
checked, goes on as usuai. li ou >Skfe ^\5aKt\iaaA> 



SEASONAL ACTION. 53 

it is late, the tree relapses into a state of repose, 
from which it afterwards awakens with increased 
vigour; and in this way what we are accustomed to 
call the blight of one year, is not only the harbinger, 
but in some measure the cause of a more exuberant 
growth and production during the next. It is dif- 
ficult for us, with our limited powers, to observe 
the facts in those cases, and when we have observed 
them it is still more difficult for us to generalise 
them with wisdom and truth; but if we could 
accomplish these, there is no question that we 
should be able to see the goodness of God even in 
those occurrences which we call natural events ; 
and that blight and mildew, locust and canker- 
worm, all work for good in the general system of 
nature. 

When we carry our observations to a greater 
distance from the equator, and approach the regions 
of the poles, we find that there is another difference 
in the character of those invertebrated animals 
which appear with the seasons. There the trees 
again become perennial in their leaf, and therefore 
the destruction of them requires to be in the timber; 
but this destruction is not brought about by ani- 
mab, even of the invertebrated classes, as it is in 
the regions of the equator. It is, in so far as it 
extends, chiefly the result of parasitical plants — 
fungi, moulds, mosses, and others, the operation of 
which is much slower than that of the animal 
destroyers in the burning regions of the tropical 
sun. 

And here we cannot help pausing to admire a 
very remarkable instance of the provident ^oodue^a 
of the Almighty^ m ordering lYve ^e;\i«t^ ^-^"eivKW^ ^^ 
xuiture 80 as to provide for tlie ^aDX;& ^sA ^tessKV^"^^ 



~}4 wss ley's philosophy. 

t* ' iio .'v^ratorts at' man, even in those remote ends 
»i iic -'iirii. Ill :ne equatorial regions there are not 
naiix ii>'*K imi ^••juseuueoriv the fiiel which feeds 
^u'l irt's > -los :it'oess«ary excepting in the arts; 
.iui iio ^^luioiial yp.Hiuc<::on of vegecable matter is 
M.» C'^Mi -aai -.t -.s juice *uificient for these pur- 
»v»>^«s. ".'I :«.»iirvr :'.imace<^ however, fires are 
iti»8su.-* lot uii' a T-ie irts* but for rendering 
;:v \u\.;ii:oiis m ue'.i .**jum:rtabLe in the inclement 
-t^i»>«.-.'. \ vvT. u lie iverage of such climates, 
t ! . i . X- '•\7*. ." :t>i I* f \:t aiiin^ o ver half the year, 

* *■•. -■ ^;i ill I lature* Ji :he tr-^pical countries, 
•...--^ :*.i t«i>«ao.e jpjMuce into dust through the 
.-vi!--. ".li ii.i.- ji ••3i.»se >mall but numerous inver- 
M* :«..tt. i.Mua-:^ 'V «-uc[x we have alluded, and 
^,.... ..^^ ,, nvaa* i A -Id: xrv colled accidental 

•■•x« "v. >4 u*i».\"* "'.Ji .' vldc* inric^ the season 
. • •, ;^ . '■ :u •^c'.cr. :i' ::v srecis against each 

■ . -i i-^ -i :!i r^cicul r!a~3 — the bamboos 

^.- ■.-. 1 Vv-» i.> •:.i.:2* ::' v^ry rapid Growth, 

. ...\ -?•.> •»• ;v>r;?r r--d containing a 

• -. >.. -. -.'. . .,■.!.:• •» >».:i,:ii :r :J:e earth of flint, 

• '^ I * :i > "'•■:• r^-iTTCse. But in the 

t>* -.VT^;:-vc tM.r^r i-.^rs sot perish by 

>* ."^. :tv: ,*i".T».*.- .M-.i :: is treasured 

>*.■- . \.\ . K rriKTZ :z !jLzd has borne 

•,\-. .^ -. ;.n -v • \L.i TV jTscj^ce. Until it Can 

>i-\i.-i'* -v* »\"!iri:r. ."ecsLuse c-f the decayed 

■ *^ « • V. ! > ir.sgve^i with the soil, 

'^ i..«x*"»: '.i I sL-ev'w* of matter is 

:'^- -..I.:', «::chucd:s the soil 

■-.■.-.. II » •«.' Ni^.r:*? sr^x'te"*; but this is 

■. , -.>«> v\" \ r.v:\* 'i^iTs oj^s not appear 



EXTINCTION OF RACES. 55 

that the dead substance of the plant, mingling with 
the soil upon which it grows, becomes in time so 
abundant as, upon the principle that no species can 
feed itself, renders the soil unfit for nourishing the 
same species any longer. When this degree of 
saturation of the soil is arrived at, no more of the 
seeds or fruits which are shed by the liying plants 
can germinate ; and thus the duration of the race 
is limited to the generation which is then standing 
in the ground. According to the general law of 
all terrestrial things, this race must come to an 
end ; and when growth is over, the bare trunks 
stand, bleached by the weather, for a longer or 
shorter time according to the character of the cli- 
mate, but always longer in proportion as the climate 
is colder. They give way at last ; and any one 
who has observed in what way a post rots, can be 
at no loss to see at what place they must decay. 
The decay of the post is neither in the portion 
which is wholly in the earth, nor in that which is 
wholly in the air. It is at the line where these 
meet, that is immediately above the surface of the 
ground: the reason of this is, that the portion 
there is exposed to the greatest action of water 
and of air and heat jointly; and those are the 
general means of decomposition. Upon this 
principle the dead trees are cut off near the sur- 
face of the ground, with as much certainty as if 
they were cut with a saw, or girdled with an 
axe ; and when this process has been carried on to 
a certain extent, this part is no longer able to sup- 
port the stem against the action of the winds, and 
thus the whole stem falls prostrate to the earth. 
After the trunks of the tt«e% ^e ^Ca»&^s^\ 
prostrate, the first production ^^QS^i «5^«n» xs;^^^ 



56 Wesley's philosophy. 

them is that which characterises the decay of vege* 
tation in all climates having a cold winter — a crop 
of fungi or mushroons of some kind or other, and 
there is generally a particular kind which comes 
upon every species of tree in this state, it springs up 
. just where the fallen trunk is in contact with the 
earth. This crop is of as brief duration as the rest 
of the family to which it belongs ; and when it 
decays, from its spongy nature it passes into a sort 
of paste, which renders the place between the fallen 
trunk and the ground completely water tight. 
This furnishes a sort of dam, which the rsun 
speedily fills with water, and the production of the 
common bog moss, whence the sporse or seeds of 
which come one knows not, is very speedily the 
consequence. Once begun, this is a new recep- 
tacle for moisture ; and in a very short time the 
trunk of the tree is buried under a covering of 
green moss. This moss continues growing at the 
top, and dying at the bottom, until it reaches such 
an elevation as that the slope from the sides carries 
oflF the water ; and then it consolidates and becomes 
an appropriate soil for a different species of 
timber, which lasts for its appointed time, and 
then yields as the former did, and the process 
is renewed. 

In many of the peat bogs of the northern parts 
of the world, there are the records of several suc- 
cessive forests, each almost exclusively composed 
of trees of the same kind, but all different from 
each other ; and connected with each of those monu- 
mental forests, there is often ten or twenty feet 
of consolidated moss and other vegetable matter, 
w/tA very little admixture of eatOo^ 'wiJo^VasvR.^^^ 
ff tills moaa contains oaks as one oi \]iafe\«:^«t%>^^ 



PEAT' BOGS. 57 

colour is nearly as black as coal when exposed to 
the air, and if the mass is thick, the consistency 
arising from the pressure, is often very considerable 
after the substance is exposed to the air, and the 
water by that means evaporated. Sometimes these 
accumulations tell other histories besides their own ; 
for there are found in them the bones of animals, 
and especially the horns of deer, which, from their 
large size, evidently have belonged to species that 
are not now found alive in the same places ; and 
not unfrequently the ruins of houses, together with 
weapons, and domestic utensils and ornaments, are 
found preserved in the same sepulchres ; for in 
those accumulations of vegetable matter, soaked 
with water in a comparatively cold climate, there 
is a wonderful antiseptic power, which pre- 
serves from corruption every thing that they con- 
tain at a sufficient depth for being beyond the 
action of atmospheric influence. In the mean 
time, however, we are not concerned with the story 
of animal or of human life, which those deposits 
may have to tell, but simply with their accumulation 
in regions where they are especially wanted for 
the benefit of mankind. 

It is, however, not imworthy of remark, that 
the layers of fallen trees which, lying stratum 
ntper stratum, mark the progress of accu- 
mulation in those bogs, very often lie all in the 
same direction, and this direction in the British 
islands answers to the seat of the prevailing 
winds at the present time, — that is to say, the tops 
of the trees lying north-east, and the root-ends 
south-west, indicating that they have yielded to a 
wiDd blowing from the latter quaTlet. 
The further we proceed into t\ie coV^ax t^%vs^^ 



58 Wesley's philosophy. 

of the world, the more numerous do we find those 
accumulations of vegetable matter ; and though their 
growth is I erhaps not so rapid as that of the vege- 
tation of warmer countries, their duration is far 
more secure. In this way there is often laid up, in 
the course of thirty or forty years, a store of fiiely 
indiscriminately called peat or turf, sufficient to last 
the inhabitants of the district for a much longer 
period than the whole extent of surface which it 
occupies would last^ if covered with the most stately 
trees that will grow in the same parts of the world. 

' Those bogs are often from fifty to a hundred feet 
thick of vegetable matter, unmixed with any 
foreign substance, and available for the necessities 
of the people ; and as those volatile ingredients 
which, in wood, or any other recent vegetable 
matter, so rapidly ascend and go to waste, are in 
a great measure gone from those accumulations! 
and carbon, which is the most effective of all fuel, 
isthe principal substance that remains, a much more 
powerful and continued heat is produced by these 
materials than would be produced from the same 
volume or weight of any timber whatever. 

There is another consideration which applies 
especially to the northern parts of those countries 
which abut upon the Atlantic Ocean. The cur- 
rent of the waters in that ocean is peculiar ; and 
the rivers of America, especially, bring down 
during the spring floods, an immense quantity of 
timber. This timber is cast in immense floats 
upon the shores of the northern islands, where not 
a tree grows ; and thus in its recent state it serves 
all the necessities of the people. But there are 

evidences that convulsions oi l^e eatlYk^NvV^Vk^t ^ 
a more local or of a more genetsiX xoXxxt^^ ^V^ssl 



DRIFT WOOD— COAL. 59 

those vegetable accmnulations, whether grown on 
the spot, or brought from a distance bj natnral 
causes, under the pressure of many fathoms of 
earthy substances ; and this pressure, with or with- 
out the assistance of heat from below (for the point 
is not determined or determinable), converts the 
vegetable accumulation into coal, such as is dug from 
the mines of various parts of this country, andwhich, 
in point of strength and durability as friel, is 
superior to every other substance. Thus we see 
that the absence of invertebrated animals which 
would consume woody matter, is a very great 
advantage to man in the cold climates ; and it is to 
this circumstance, more than to any other of a 
physical nature, that Britain owes that superiority 
for carrying on the useful arts which it possesses 
above every other country that could be named. 

But still, in the high latitudes, there is no want 
of the smaller tribes of invertebrated animals at 
that season of the year which requires their pre- 
sence : there, however, they are gone while vege- 
tation is in the dormant state ; and the same sun 
which expands the seasonal bud, hatches the egg 
of the caterpillar. As long as the temperature is 
moderate, a very large proportion of those crea- 
tures deposits their eggs on vegetables, glueing them 
to the buds and branches of trees, or inserting them 
in holes of the bark, which the parents are furnished 
with instruments for making; and some deposit them 
in the earth, where they live for more than one 
year below the surface, feeding upon the roots of 
plants, and sometimes, in peculiar states of the 
weather, the young come upward, and cut the roots 
of the grass within an inch or two ol Wi^ ^xnl^fi.^^ 
#0 diMt over a whole meadow it mvj \^« t^<^ >^ 



60 Wesley's philosophy. 

like a carpet, and is of course destroyed for all 
future purposes of vegetation, while on other occa- 
sions they attack, in a similar manner, the roots of 
the corn, and completely destroy the crop. There 
are, however, many species which trust to the 
waters for the continuation of their race; because, 
as we have already hinted, the waters preserve a 
greater uniformity of temperature than the land 
does ; and where the surface of the water is covered 
with ice, the unfrozen water below never descends 
to the temperature of freezing, and is generally, if 
not invariably, very much higher. The coating of 
ice upon the water preserves the heat of the unfro- 
zen water below, much in the same manner as the 
snowy mantle which is thrown over the Polar lands 
preserves the heat of these. Both are bad conduc- 
tors of heat, and both affect the surface only ; and 
thus by their means a certain portion of the heat 
of the summer is preserved in the land and in the 
waters during the winter, so that the cold itself is, 
to a considerable extent, the prevention of that 
destruction which it would produce, if it had unin- 
terrupted access to those animals and vegetables 
which are shielded from its influence by the snow 
and the ice. 

The number of germs which is preserved in this 
manner, in the very cold latitude, is beyond what 
any one would suppose ; and the number of living 
creatures, especially winged insects, which are pro- 
duced in the summer is great. In Lapland, in 
Canada, and in other countries of extreme cold, the 
inhabitants of temperate climates can hardly have 
any conception of the number of flies, many of them 

armed with stings, which YvletaW^ ewcwit^iet \Ja&. 

summer air, and render the matgiiv.'a ol \)cv^ >ii^\ftt%^ 



PRODUCTION OF SMALL ANIMALS. 61 

and the shade of the trees which grow by those 
waters, perfectly intolerable to human beings. Many 
parts of Canada, for instance, are for nearly half 
the year completely bound up in fetters of ice, and 
exposed to the ardour of a heat almost equal to 
that of the tropics during the summer ; and while 
one is panting under this heat in the open parts of 
the country, if one attempts to take refuge under 
the shade of a tree, by some swampy pool, a cloud 
of flies descends which is absolutely unbearable ; 
clearly showing how powerfully the waters in those 
countries tend to the preservation of the germs of 
invertebrated animals, and with what energy, and 
in what numbers, the summer sun brings them to 
maturity. 

Nor must it be supposed that this immense pro- 
duction of small animals which takes place in the 
high latitudes, during the summer season, is without 
its use in the general economy of nature, or that 
these children of a day or an hour, (for the lives 
of many of them in their perfect state do not ex- 
tend much beyond the more brief of those periods,) 
are made for themselves alone. We have mentioned 
again and again, and the tale cannot be too often 
repeated, that all the living and growing produc- 
tions of nature are mutually dependent upon each 
other ; and that, if there is at any place, or in 
any season, an exuberant production of any one 
description of creatures, there will be provided, in 
the same place, and at the same season, a corre- 
sponding number of creatures which shall profit 
by this exuberance. Now, the very same sun which 
carries long day and intense heat into those Ivv^ 
latitudes, parches up the noTtVietik ^%x\.*& ^\ "^^ 
equatorial r^ouB, so that i^egetaAAOU \»m^i^% «3^^ 



64 Wesley's philosophy. 

displayed, are supported. The support of the acting 
parts of all invertebrated animals is the envelope 
in which their bodies are contained. Sometimes 
this is a mere skin, of greater or less consistency 
according to the species ; sometimes it is a crust, 
partaking of the nature of horn, or being chieflj 
composed of gelatine ; at other times it is a firm 
crust, partaking in part of the nature of bone, or 
containing phosphate of lime, which is the earth of 
bones in all vertebrated animals ; but in the inver- 
tebrated the crust always contains acertain admixture 
of another substance which approaches more nearly 
to the composition of those limestone and marble 
rocks which are so abundant in the earth, and so 
useful and ornamental in the arts; and there are still 
others in which the external envelope is composed, in 
the earthy part, wholly of this limestone or marble, 
which is technically known by the name of carbo- 
nate of lime, and this carbonate of lime is mixed 
up with a greater or smaller portion of animal 
matter, chiefly gelatine or glue, according to the 
species. When the covering is soft, or contains 
little or no earthy substance, it gets no particular 
name except from its form and consistency ; and 
then the description of its varieties forms part of 
that of the animals which possess it. When it 
consists of earthy matter, in whole or in the greater 
part phosphate of lime, it is called a crust; of 
which we have examples in the lobster, the crab, 
and the shrimp. When carbonate of lime enters 
into its composition, it is called shell, if the indi- 
vidual animal contains a portion of it, formed and 
possessed hyitse% and independent of any other ani- 
' of the same species. If t\\e eatl\i^ xnaiW^t q\\^ 
28 combined with a considei^^Xe q^vsasl^X.^ qI 



*^ 



SHELLS. 65 

animal gelatine, the shell is called a pearl shell, or 
mother of pearl shell, hecause such shells have the 
peculiar lustre of those pearls which when pure and 
perfect are so much esteemed in jewellery ; but the 
native shell has often a far more splendid display of 
colours than the pearl, as the pearls themselves are 
the produce of disease in shells which have not much 
colour ; and, indeed, the more nearly wbite the 
mother shell is, the pearl is the more esteemed. 
This pearly lustre is produced by the structure of 
the pearl shell, which consists of very thin layers of 
gelatine and carbonate of lime alternating with 
each other. The beautiful play of colours which 
those shells often exhibit, appears to come from 
the interior of the shell ; but it is probable that this 
appearance is a deception, and that it is the form 
of the surface only which breaks the light into its 
various tints, and thereby produces the play of 
colours. This is rendered highly probable, if not 
completely demonstrated, by the fact that fine clay, 
or any other substance of the same nature, which 
is strongly impressed by a pearl shell, will show, 
dimmed only by its own particular colour, the 
same play of colours as the shell itself. 

Shells which consist chiefly of carbonate of lime, 
do not in general possess this pearly lustre, and 
they are much harder and more inflexible than the 
others. Generally speaking, they are also far 
more glossy and polished on the surface ; and on 
this account they are called porcelain shells, from 
the resemblance which their gloss has to that of 
China ware. 

Almost all land shells, and also fresh-water 
shells, are of the pearly structwie ; «l\A ^^ ^x^ ^'a^ 
those sea shells which are termedLlUtoTal — •'CoaX\^'» 

VOL. II, -g 



66 Wesley's philosophy. 

those which are found in the living state on the 
shores or banks of the sea. Many of these inhabit 
the tidal part of the shores ; and in the season of 
reproduction the rocks are often covered over by 
the young, to a greater height than the still water 
of the flood tide ever reaches, but never higher 
than the spray dashes when the wind is on the 
waves and the surface is agitated. Others, how- 
ever, inhabit at the depth of a good many fathoms ; 
but it is probable that few or none of them are 
lower down than can be reached by the soundings 
of an ordinary line. 

Porcelain shells, on the other hand, are very 
rarely, if at all, found on the land, or in the fresh 
waters; and even at sea they are not, generally 
speaking, littoral, or found in the tide-way, or on 
the banks at moderate depth. They are pelagic, 
or far-sea, or deep-sea shells^ and there are but 
few of them which we have the means of examiniDg 
in the living state. Multitudes are, however, cast 
upon the shores, more especially in tropical coun- 
tries, where there is a current of the ocean waters 
rolling toward the shore ; and of these many are 
of great beauty, and highly prized as ornaments. 

When the shell, or production of earthy matter, 
forms the habitation not of one animal, but of 
many, it takes in great part the form of a vegetable 
substance, though it is truly an animal production, 
containing more or less of the salts of lime, accord- 
ing to circumstances* If hard and firm, and of 
considerable thickness in the individual parts, it is 
popularly called a coral, and some of those corals 
are of fine colour, admit of a high polish, and are 
much esteemed for ornamental p\Lc^o&e^ If the 
individual portions are \eaa comi^afiX) aa^ ^\ajdDL^> 



CORAL REEFS. 67 

and branching, it is called a coralline ; and some of 
those corallines have so much the appearance of 
vegetable productions, that they have occasionally 
been considered and described as plants. Some of 
those corals are, in the warm seas, produced with 
amazing rapidity, so that they are brought up from 
an unfathomable depth to near the surface in the 
course of a very few years. They are remarkably 
compact and hard ; and there have been instances 
of a spike of coral piercing completely through the 
bottom of a ship, thus stopping the leak which itself 
h?d made, and so preserving the ship until it 
reached the shore. An instance of this kind 
occurred to the enterprising and illustrious Captain 
Cook, while exploring the seas to the eastward of 
New Holland — seas which, from the middle latitude 
of New Holland, and round the north-eastern 
extremity, are remarkable for this sort of produc- 
tion. Those coral rocks, reefs, and islands, which 
are sometimes of great extent, though never ele- 
vated above the surface of the water, except by 
other causes, are all the productions of inverte- 
brated animals, and animals of the very lowest or 
least developed division, which do not possess any 
visible organs of motion or of sensation, and which 
individually are so very minute, that the naked eye 
can hardly discern them. 

This is a portion of nature's working, which is 
equally wonderful and instructive. It shows us 
that, according to our ordinary modes of estimating, 
** the race is not to the swift, neither is the battle 
to the strong ;'* for while we meet with a few bones 
of ancient mammaUa, more rarely those of birds, 
and more frequently fishes, and es^e^^vd^^ ^^^^ 
we £nd them scattered amovig oti^<&t ^\i^*^\»Sk&^^'k 

F 2 



68 Wesley's philosopht. 

evidently showing that they had heen altogether 
passive in the production of those formations of 
which they are part. But there is scarcely on the 
face of the earth a country, unless that country 
hears evident marks of having heen forced from the 
bowels of the earth by volcanic action — that is, by 
the action of subterraneous fire, in which those little 
creatures have not recorded a monument incalcu- 
lably more extensive and lasting than any which 
the skill and the power of man, aided by reason, 
and those tools and engines which reason has ena- 
bled him to contrive, could by possibihty erect. 

This is equally demonstrative of the power of 
Grod as displayed in the works of creation, and 
humbUng to the vanity of man ; and we can, per- 
haps, nowhere find a more striking instance of the 
contrast between man's working and God's making, 
than when we compare the monuments erected by 
the mightiest monarchs and the most skilfid artists 
of the human race, with those constructed by the 
most minute and humble of the creatures which 
God has made, and which work simply and 
implicitly according to the law which He has given 
to their nature, and without any thought or rea- 
soning on their part. True to the words of the 
prophet, << Babylon is heaps," barely distinguishable 
from the accumulations of rubbish formed by that 
river of which Babylon once w^as the ornament ; 
Thebes and Tadmor are mouldering ruins ; the 
glory of Athens is gone; and while the ancient 
edifices of Rome are crumbling by the action of 
time, the malaria^ which, like the pestilence, 
<< walketh in darkness," is invading the remaining 
part of the city, with more cetlam de^lxwetion and 
death than the Romans ia tVie ^ei*^ levsi^ oil SXk^vs 



RENOVATION OP LAND. 69 

power inflicted upon the people of those countries 
which were over-run and subjugated by their 
armies. But though the design of the architect 
and the skill of the sculptor are fast passing into 
oblivion, those mutilated remains, in which the 
labours either of the one or of the other can hardly 
now be traced, are as monumental as ever of an 
earlier and a better worker — of the invertebrated 
animal, which originally produced the marble that 
the human artist borrowed for a time, to be at last 
returned to the general collection of dead matter, 
by the wantonness of barbaric hands, or the more 
slow, but more certain, decomposition of all-devour- 
ing time. 

This circumstance alone shows us how much the 
system of things as it now exists, is dependent upon 
even the humbler classes of the invertebrated ani- 
mals, and that, as these are in their organization 
and sensation the least removed from mere matter 
of all living creatures, they are, in some sort, the 
conservators of the rock, the preparers of new 
lands, against the time when the lands now inha- 
bited shall have run their course, and shall have 
been unfit for any of the purposes of growth and of 
life. We have already mentioned the remarkable 
indestructibility of the principle of life in those 
creatures, and how independent they, when in the 
state of germs, are of all those contingencies which 
are fatal to animals of larger growth and more 
complete development ; and it is impossible not to 
see that this power of endurance which they pdssess, 
is in perfect accordance, and in strict agreement, 
with this ofSce, which is assigned to them, of 
renewwg the land so as to ma\Le \\. ^\. loix qI^<^x 
nces, both reg-etable and anima\. In ^\* \wKwcw«t 



72 WESLEY*S PHILOSOPHY. 

the decrepitude of animals, human heings for in- 
stance, when the apparent stature of the hody, and 
the dimensions of all the memhers, appear to dimi- 
nish, there is a death in the hones ; and as it is the 
nature of the animal structure to remove all dead 
matter out of the system, the dead portion of the 
hones is taken up hy the action of the ahsorhent ves- 
sels, and thrown into the general mass of the circulat- 
ing fluid as it returns from all parts of the hody to 
the heart. Sometimes the taking up of this hony mat- 
ter, which has ceased to he useful for the purposes 
of life, is so great, that the circulating vessels are 
unable to throw it out of the system, and it is de- 
posited on the- substance of the heart or the blood 
vessels ; which are, in consequence of it, in great 
part converted into bone. This conversion is called 
ossification ; and there have been instances in which 
a human being has been able to bear up under it^ 
until the greater part of -the arteries, those of the 
Ibwer part of the body especially, have been con- 
verted into bony tubes, and, in other instances, the 
heart ; and the parts of the great arteries immedi- 
ately adjoining it have, after death, been found to 
be converted into the same substance. In this 
dreadful state of the system, life is preserved for a 
much longer period than any one would believe, by 
the use of powerful stimulants^ such as the strong- 
est ardent spirits ; and many instances have occurred 
in which persons in this situation, who had been 
kept alive by drinking undiluted brandy, have died 
in the course of a few hours when they had no 
means of getting the accustomed supply of that 
liguor. 
The plant does not decay and d\e cxsieilY m this 
manner^ for it does not apipeat \\\a\. XJtv^^^ \^ \w 



GROWtfl. 73 

plants any means by which they can throw out of 
their system any substance which has ceased to be 
useful for the purposes of vegetation ; but in trees, 
which are the longest lived of the vegetable race, 
the wood, after it has ceased to take part in the ac- 
tive operations of the trees, and has passed Into a 
state of inactivity, after a period of time, longer or 
shorter, according to the nature of the tree and 
the soil in which it grows, begins to decay ; and we 
find that old trees become hollow, from the decay 
of their internal or oldest wood, long before the 
power of vegetation in the external or active part 
of them ceases ; and that vegetable life still lingers 
in a part of the surface after the greater portion of 
the substance of the tree has been reduced to dust, 
in the natural progress of decay, and without the 
action of any animal or external agent, except 
simply the influence of the atmospheric air. 

Endogenous plants have a similar resemblance 
to invt^rtebrated animals. Such plants have their 
support in the external crust, and they grow at and 
from the centre. In consequence of this mode of 
growth, those which have the longest duration in- 
crease in length, but not in diameter; and very 
many of them have the vegetable life confined to a 
single bud, the action of which will sometimes carry 
the tree to a very great height, as is beautifully 
exemplified in many of the palms which form such 
splendid ornaments of the tropical forests. 

Nor is it unworthy of remark, that the power of 
life — ^that is, its capability of resisting destruction — 
is much greater in those plants, than it is in the 
exogenous ones. Also, when endogenous plants 
are of sufficient size to be classed aa\.iee%> \^^ %0C\^ 
matter which ia formed in tWvt a\.eia.^i ^^ "hss^^^ 



76 WESLE\*S PHILOSOPHY. 

in their characters, we find that each supplies man 
with the means which are best adapted for making 
him comfortable in that particular locality, if he 
wilf only inform himself of the proper method of 
using those means. Thus the goodness of God 
encompasseth the whole earth, and man is alike 
under His providence in every climate and in 
every latitude. 

There is another remarkable coincidence between 
the humbler classes of plants and those of animals, 
which it would be improper to pass over. They 
are always the first to come and the last to depart. 
If land is elevated from under the sea, or a new 
surface of rock is in any way exposed, the moulds, 
the mosses, and the lichens form the first crop 
which nature sows upon it, and the first living 
inhabitants are small insects. These make a begin- 
ning, however ; and, though the time is longer or 
shorter, according to the situation of the place on 
the globe, and to other circumstances, yet there is 
always in the end a soil produced capable of sup- 
porting a larger and better vegetation ; and as soon 
as plants which produce seeds come to maturity, 
birds become visiters ; and ultimately some of them 
become residents, by which means in process of 
time the barren surface is converted into a land of 
plenty. We shall, however, be better able to follow 
out this very pleasing part of the subject, after 
we have obtained a further acquaintance with the 
vegetable tribes, and the relations which there are 
between them and the animals. Therefore, we 
shall now briefly notice the characters of the grand 
divisions of invertebrated living creatures, pre- 
paratory to a few explanaWoiia o^ «»cim^ oC the 
more extraordinary parts o£ t^ievt e^iOTvoxcc^ . 



MOLLUSCA. 77 

There are three grand divisions of invertebrated 
animals, to which the names of molhiscous animals 
(mollusca), articulated animals (articulata^) and 
radiated animals (radiata), are given ; and though 
the distinctions between these are not so marked, 
as those between each and all of them and the 
vertebrated animals, yet they are sufficiently 
marked for being of great use in the study of ani- 
mals — a study in which we must " divide," before 
we can reasonably expect to " conquer." 

MoLLUSCA, as the name implies, are soft animals 
— that is, they have the skin which immediately 
envelops their bodies flexible, and often capable of 
greatly altering the shape of the animals. They 
never have any internal bones, -so that their mus- 
cles are inserted in the skin only. In many species, 
however, tlrere is in the skin of those animals a 
wonderful power of producing shelly matter ; which 
is sometimes embedded under a cloak or mantle 
of thick skin. Sometimes, again, it is merely 
attached at a single point, or by the tendons of 
muscles, with which the animal is furnished for 
the purpose of * moving the shell, or of opening and 
shutting the valves or pieces of it, if there are more 
than one. In all cases, however, this shelly 
matter is external of the real skin of the animal, 
though it is very often covered with an epidermis, 
or scarf-skiu. 

In animals of this type, there is no distinct and 
perfect brain ; but there is a nervous substance ; 
and there is no instance of the absence of such a 
substance in any thing possessing animal hfe. But 
while, in vertebrated animals, the nervous mass 
is the foundation^ to which all the o\\iet ^^\\& ^^ 
subservient, in the class under coTis\^eT^.>LY^VL "Oca 



80 Wesley's philosophy. 

general function of animal life, inseparable from its 
existence, and that the particular senses which are 
allocated to organs, and which vary in their number 
in different kinds of beings, are merely modifications, 
by means of which the particular animal is adapted 
to its particular purpose in the economy of nature. 

Viewing the subject in this general light — and ' 
it is the only one which is truly philosophical — we 
must not deny that there may be a general sensa- 
tion which, in as /ar as the animal requires it^^ 
answers each and all of these purposes, which 
in the more developed, or, as we say, perfect 
animals, are more immediately vested in specific 
organs. 

The snails and slugs which infest our gardens 
are among the molluscous animals with which we 
are best acquainted ; and though some of them 
possess organs which we are inclined to consider as 
eyes, it is certain that those eyes are of small use to 
them in any part of their economy. But still these ani- 
mals, according to their several natures, are just as 
well fitted for finding their food, as animals of the 
keenest eye or the quickest ear. They are mostly 
night-feeders, and all of them shrink from the direct 
beams of the sun, by withdrawing into their shells, 
by crawling into holes, or by both ; but still the 
snail and the slug, in their nocturnal and slowly 
conducted excursions, find no more difficulty in 
discovering in its finest condition that plant or fruit 
which is their favourite food, than the lion and the 
eagle do in finding their prey, if, indeed, they find 
as much. 

What the sense is by which they are guided, we 
have no means of knovj'mg ; Xi^caxM.^ \\. does not 
appear to he at all analogous Xo axv^ ol \\jLQ?i^^'«x- 



MOLLUSCA. 81 

ticular senses to which we give names, and refer to 
particular organs. 

This is a very important part of the subject, and 
one which renders the study of the invertebrated 
animals especially necessary for the completing of 
anything like a correct knowledge of life and living 
action ; unless, indeed, we pay some attention to 
those animals, and mark how they perform their 
parts in nature, by means of structures so diffe- 
rent from our own, we never can have anything 
like an adequate notion of the beauty of creatiou, 
or of the wisdom of the Creator. Without this 
comprehensive range of thought, we can hardly 
avoid looking upon the working of creation, as if 
it were a working after the manner of men ; and it 
is highly probable, that it is the want of some such 
general knowledge as this, which has led even the 
best and most popular of our writers on the wisdom 
of God as displayed in creation, to hold up that wis- 
dom as superior in degree only to the wisdom of man, 
and thus, without intending it, to humanize our no- 
tions of the Almighty. Nothing can tend more than 
this does to humble our pride ; but this humbling is 
of that beneficial kind which, when duly persevered 
in, never fails in exalting us to the highest rank in 
wisdom-, to which human beings can be exalted. 

Inhere is yet another general view of mol- 
luscous animals, which is highly useful in guiding 
us to true wisdom, and enabling us to see, in as far 
as our limited inward light can see, the mode in 
which the different parts of nature work. It is in 
the system of sensation, as connected with separate 
senses allocated to different organs, and in progresbivc; 
motion in change of place, that we ^d \he xd^wtf^A^ 
de£cieDt. Many of them, — sucli, for iQft\AXice> 'oa^^ 

VOL. II, ci 



82 W£SLEY*S FHILOSOPHT. 

oyster — are soldered to the rock ; and others anchor 
themselves by byssi, or threads, of their own spin- 
ning ; so that during the whole term of their liTes, 
they do not travel an inch, or even the tenth part 
of that short distance ; and in some of these, there 
is scarcely an3rthing which even rational conjecture 
can fix upon as being an organ of sense. 

When, however, we come to examine the system 
of growth, nourishment, and reproduction in those 
animals, we find no such , deficiency as that which 
appears in their system of sensation. Their organs 
of digestion and of secretion are not quite so compli- 
cated as those of the vertebrated animals ; but still 
they are more perfect than in several others of the 
invertebrated races. 

In the arrangement of these different organs^ 
they are by no means so uniform as the vertebrated 
animals ; but still all of them may be said to be 
symmetrical, that is, capable of division upon a 
mesial plane, so as that the one half may be an exact 
counterpart of the other, only turned the opposite 
way, or the one to the right hand, and the other to 
the left. As some of the mollusca inhabit the land, 
and others the water, some are furnished with a 
peculiar sort of lungs for the breathing of free air, 
and others with gills, by which they can breathe 
air through the medium of water. Of the aquatic 
ones, some are swimmers, though, generally speak- 
ing, their motions are slow ; but of the land mol- 
lusca> there are none that have any power of flight, 
or even any regular organs for anything like a 
walking motion. The snails and the slugs are the 
land mollusca with which we, in these countries, 
are the most familiar ; and \\ie^ w^ Q^\.<i\i M9»ed as 
the emblems of sluggish motion, -wVic^^^ vcl^«»:^ ^"^ 



CIRCULATION IN MOLLUSCA. 83 

the other races which mhabit the water, there is, 
as we have already hinted, scarcely any other mo- 
tion than the opening and shutting of the valves of 
a shell. 

All the mollusca have a double circulation ; that 
is, they have a circulation to the lungs or the gills, 
as well as a systematic one for nourishing the dif- 
ferent parts of the body ; and the pulmonic part of 
the circulation is carried on by means of a fleshy 
or muscular ventricle; which is not, as it is in 
fishes, situated between the systematic veins and 
the pulmonic arteries ; but between the pulmonic 
veins and the systematic arteries. This is in them, 
therefore, a systematic ventricle ; and there is only 
one family which have a pulmonic ventricle in ad- 
dition. The systematic ventricle is, in some of 
the species, divided into two parts, and in others, 
only the auricle is so divided. In those species 
which have more than one ventricle, the whole is ^ 
not in every case placed in one single organ, as it 
is in the vertebrated animals, but in several de- 
tached parts, which have the appearance of a plu- 
rality of hearts. Nor is it unworthy of remark, 
that this plurality or separation of the parts, in the 
primary organs of circulation in these animals, is 
in strict accordance with the division of the primary 
parts of the nervous mass into those ganglia to 
which we have already alluded. We know too little 
of the relations that subsist between the different sys- 
tems of which the animal structure is made up, to be 
able to say what purpose is effected by this division 
of both the nervous and the circulating systems, 
and the distribution of both through the structure 
of the animal; but as they accom^dxi^ eaj^ ^*0£v«t> 
or occur in the same species, lYvexe tK»&\.\i^ ^^^afc 

62 



84 Wesley's philosophy. 

connection between tbem, in virtue of which they 
both conduce to some one purpose in the economy 
of the animal. There can be no question that, in 
this detachment of the heart, and of what may be 
considered as the brain, over the different parts 
of the animal, there is an approximation to the 
character of those classes which have complete life 
diffused through the different parts of their bodies, 
and which can, in consequence of this, convert them- 
selves into as many perfect animals as the parts 
into which they are divided. In all those races of 
the invertebrated animals which may be considered 
as intermediate between the vertebrated animals 
and the radiata^ as these, to all appearance, grow 
from, or around, a centre, which cannot be consi- 
dered either as a nervous mass, as it is in vertebrated 
animals, or as a system of nutrition, as it is in the 
mollusca, there is an approximation, in some re- 
spect or other, to this final or last developed race 
of animals ; while, in other parts of the structure, 
a resemblance to the more fully developed animals 
is preserved. The precise point at which the one 
type is lost, and the other taken up, is, however, 
a very nice matter, and it cannot, in the present 
state of our knowledge, be made the subject of 
popular inquiry, or even very satisfactorily ex- 
plained by all the aids of the most refined and 
careful science. 

The blood of the mollusca is always of a white 
or bluish colour, containing much less fibrine than 
the blood of vertebrated animals; and there is 
reason to believe that in them the systems of cir- 
culation and absorption are so far united, as that 
the veins, besides bringing Wck t\\^ blood from 
the different parts of the \>ody, Xix^^ ^^^^ ^'i 



MOTION OF MOLLUSCA. 85 

other refuse, without the aid of any lymphatic 
vessels. 

In animals of this division, the muscles have their 
insertion in various parts of the skin, and they con- 
sist of tissues more or less numerous and compli- 
cated, according to the nature of the species. As 
there are no bones, there are of course no motions 
of joints ; but the action of the animal consists in 
alternate contractions and elongations. On land, 
these contractions are capable of producing only 
very slow motions, and the animal must hold on 
with one part of its body while it advances the 
other. This species of motion is quite incompatible 
with anything except crawling; because in the 
performing of it, a portion of the animal must 
be always at rest — the hind part while the fore 
part is projected forwards, and the fore part while 
the hind is drawn after it. Some of them perform 
this motion with greater rapidity and others with 
less ; but it will readily be understood that, in all 
cases, it is only a half motion ; and that, thus, the 
crawling animal never can acquire a momentum as 
is done by animals which have continual motion, 
into which rest hardly enters as an element But 
though such animals never can acquire a momen- 
tum, or power of continuing motion derived from 
the motion they have already performed, they are 
exempted from that fatigue and exhaustion of the 
system, to which all animals capable of per* 
forming rapid motions are necessarily exposed. 
Their muscles being internal, can all act to the' 
greatest advantage ; and the rest which the one part 
of the body receives while the other is movin^^coxv- 
tributes still further to the same efiftcX.. \w ^i,^"^- 
sequence of this, we might ftupi^ae «t ^xi-aSi ox ^^>s^ 



88 Wesley's philosophy. 

adaptation of the strength of the shell to the 
depth in those mollusca which are used as food. 
The mussel, which is found on hanks in the shal- 
lows only, and never in deep water, has a thin and 
tender shell ; whereas the oyster, which is always 
found at a greater depth, has invariahly a thickef 
and stronger one. Still the oyster itself, though 
an inhabitant of banks lying deeper than those 
inhabited by the mussel, is still a iMmk animal and 
not a pelagic one; and thus, though its shell is 
much stronger than that of the mussel, it is not at 
all comparable with those shells which are found 
only in very deep water ; and which, if they inha- 
bit there generally, belong, for the most part, if 
not exclusively, to animals which have much greater 
powers of locomotion than either the mussel or 
the oyster. 

In addition to the cloaks and shells which we 
have already mentioned as being divisible into 
several groups, some in which the cloak is not 
provided with any hard or shelly matter, some in 
which the hard matter is intemad of the cloak, and 
some again in which it is external, or forms a shell 
either of the pearly or porcelain character, there is 
an endless number of gradations. Sometimes the 
hard matter is wholly animal according to our 
common notions of animal substance ; and in these 
cases it has very much the consistency of horn ; 
and the tender shells contain in their substance a 
much greater proportion of this horny matter than 
the firm and durable shells. Then, when we come 
to those which inhabit the deepest waters, we have 
the shell composed almost entirely of salts of lime ; 
and more hard and infte^\Ae ihaca axv^ cA \Jjvfe\ioxie8 
ofvertebrated animals^ witVitlie eiLCft^^wv^x\Mw^^^\ 



CONSISTENCY OF SHELLS. 89 

the enamel in the teeth of some of the mammalia, 
in which — ^in the hippopotamus for instance — ^it is 
so hard as to strike fire with steel, that is, to burn 
small portions of the steel, when the two are 
brought into contact rapidly and violently. In 
proportion as the shell or other solid part of mol- 
luscous animals contains less salt of lime and more 
animal matter, it is more distinctly invested by a 
scarf skin or cuticle ;~ and in proportion as this is 
the case the animal and the shell are more com- 
pletely connected with each other. The inhabitant 
of a soft pearl shell rarely has the power of even 
partially coming out of that shell, but the inhabi- 
tants of the porcelain shells almost always have this 
power ; and many of them can crawl along, carrying 
the shell only attached to the cloak or mantle — ^the 
part from which it is produced. 

In fact the more that this part of the struc- 
ture departs from the true animal character^ 
and approaches the nature of stone, the less 
does this part appear to be identified with the 
life. This holds true in those parts of verte* 
brated animals which consist of homy matter 
or matter composed in part of salts of lime; 
and it is not a little remarkable that, different 
as the structures and habits of vertebrated and 
molluscous animals are, those less sensitive parts 
of them should be composed of very nearly the 
same materials. If we take a bone and a shell, 
and expose each for a sufficient length of time to 
the action of an acid sufficiently powerful for dis- 
solving the salts of lime, there will remain in both 
cases a cartilaginous substance, preserving, in a 
great measure, the form of the etit\T«'Wi<& est ^^^ 
but £exible; and this cartiVagixiowA %\i^^\axLC^^ '^^ 



90 Wesley's philosophy. 

always less and less consistent, or firm in its struc- 
ture, in proportion as the bone or shell contains 
more of the salts of lime. On the other hand» if 
Vie take the bone or shell, and expose it for a suffi- 
cient length of time to the heat of a fire sufficient 
for burning the animal matter, but not so intense 
as to melt or otherwise decompose the earthy salts, 
then we obtain the earthy matter alone, witliout 
any admixture of the animah If the matter thus 
obtained is chiefly carbonate of lime, the action of 
the heat will drive off the carbonic acid as well as 
consume the earthy matter, and the residue will 
be common quick lime, and will slake upon being 
put into water, in the same manner as limestone 
does when burned in the kiln. The matter and 
the form of those substances are, however, so 
exceedingly diversified in the different species, that 
it is scarcely possible to give a general description 
of them ; and the species are so numerous, that to 
describe each would far exceed the limits of any 
ordinary work. 

Molluscous animals present an endless number 
of varieties in their organs of feeding and of diges- 
tion. In some the stomach is a simple sack, in 
others it consists of several parts, and, in others 
again, the intestines are of considerable length. In 
many instances they are furnished with salivary 
glands, apparently for the purpose of moistening 
their food ; and in all cases there is a liver of ample 
dimensions; but there is neither pancreas nor 
mesentery. The absence of the last of these organs 
is a confirmation of what we formerly stated of the 
veins in the mollusca being in themselves the 
absorbents ; for the a\)aeuce o^ ^ ^«x^ct^%a almost 
necessarily invoWes ttie a\)aeiice ol \^^\fc^ n'k$»'&<^v^ 



^ 



CIRCULATION OF MOLLUSCA. 91 

and thus it appears that the yeins at once take up 
the nourishment of the food, as well as the waste 
of the hody, and convey them together into the cir- 
culating mass of the hlood. It appears to he 
something connected with this douhle function of 
the veins, which renders a different arrangement 
in the circulating organs from that which takes 
place in fishes necessary for those animals. We 
have already said that the circulation of the mol- 
lusca provides for a vigorous propulsion of the 
hlood over the body, by having the muscular ven- 
tricle situated at the commencement of the syste- 
matic arteries; whereas, in fishes, the muscular 
ventricle is placed in another part of the system, 
and produces a more vigorous circulation toward 
the breathing apparatus, than the systematic aorta 
produces toward the different parts of the body. 
This is a curious arrangement ; but it is intimately 
connected with the economy of the animals. Those 
fishes which inhabit near the surface are very 
speedily deprived of life when taken out of the 
water ; and on the other hand, the greater number 
of the mollusca are remarkably tenacious of life ; so 
much so, that they can often bear to be dried, or 
otherwise to pass into a state of inactivity and 
apparent death, from which they again return 
when the state of the weather favours such an 
occurrence. This accommodation to circumstances 
is not yet so important in these mollusca which 
inhabit the sea; but it is highly so in the land 
ones, and also in such fresh water ones as inhabit 
countries where they are subject to seasonal over- 
flowings and M\s of the water. Mollusca are not 
generaUp> or even in many cases, seA&oivsiX ^ycc^^^ 
in their duration, though they are Be^c&Qt^VoL^^ 



94 WESLEY'S PHILOSOPHY. 

all the other functions of the ammal. Thus, as 
one part of their organization ties them down to 
their peculiar localities, and forces them to endure 
the vicissitudes of the season, much more than 
annuals which are in some respects more active, 
another part of their organization fits them for 
enduring those seasonal changes much better than 
they are endured by animals which are not subject 
to similar necessities. 

One of the most curious points in the history of 
all animals is their re-production, because the com- 
mencement and the growth of the new animal, 
though they fall infinitely short of the wonderful 
mystery of creation, are the nearest approximations 
to it of which we can have any knowledge from 
observation. This provision for the contmuation of 
the race is, in a general point of view, of greater 
importance than the mere preservation of the indi- 
vidual ; and time to the general law of creation, 
that the provision made shall be always fully adequate 
to the necessity that there is for it, the means of con- 
tinuing every race, both of plants and of animals, 
are always sufficient not only for insuring the 
numbers which are wanted in the average states of 
the seasons ; but also for meeting every contingency 
that can possibly arise, and furnishing a surplus 
over and above this, upon which some other race is 
to a greater or less extent supported. 

In general the principle, with the single excep- 
tion of those animals which can be produced by 
mechanically dividing the bodies of living ones, 
is the same in all the races, — there is always an e^ 
or germ, and this egg or germ has to be impreg- 
nated, in order to bring *\\. mlo ^-a^. ^i.wi^\\.vaa in 
which it is fit for being a.^a\Len^ \w\.q\\1^. 'X^ssv^^a 



REPRODUCTION. 95 

a very important matter, because it is a miiversal 
and constantly repeated proof that mere matter, 
considered simply in itself, can produce or give 
origin to nothing; and, therefore, when this is 
fully Understood, there is hardly another proof 
required of the fact of creation, and the existence 
of the Creator — and, when this is once fully 
established, the result of the rest of our study of 
nature resolves itself into a most satisfactory and 
delightful contemplation of the attributes of that 
Great Being. 

But though the principle as applied to all ani- 
mated nature is the same, the modifications of it 
in different individuals are very great ; and some of 
the most singular ones are found among the mol- 
luscous animals. There may be said to be three 
distinct kinds of organizations for the accomplish- 
ment of this purpose. The first, and the one with 
which we are most familiar, as it obtains among all 
the warm blooded animals without a single excep- 
tion, is that in which the sexes are in different in- 
dividuals, and each individual of one sex only. A 
very considerable number of the mollusca have this 
organization. The second form is that in which 
the sexes are united in the same individual, and form 
what are termed androgynes, or hermaphrodites, 
that is, " male-females," and when this is the case 
every individual is equally endowed with both 
powers ; and in their pairing, each of the two 
mutually impregnates, and is impregnated. The 
common slugs form instances of this modification ; 
and it will readily be seen that by means of it a 
double production as compared with that of ani- 
mals of only one sex, is of necessity aee\«fe^% ^^i'OcL 
these races are oviparous^ or deposit e^^ % \XvQ?afe 



96 Wesley's philosophy. 

eggs are sometimes inclosed in shells of greater or 
less consistency, and, in other cases, they are 
merely invested with a sort of viscid covering, by 
means of which they adhere to places and sub- 
stances where the young are brought to ms^turity 
by the action of the elements, and without the 
smallest labour or care on the part of the parent 
animals. Those which have either of those types, 
are necessarily endowed with some powers of loco- 
motion ; because, without such powers, the animals 
could not meet each other. It has, however, been 
mentioned already that some of the mollusca, 
indeed a considerable number of th^^, are as com- 
pletely fixed to the bottom of the sea as plants are 
fixed to the earth, only their modes of adhesion 
are mere fastenings, and do not in any way contri- 
bute to the growth or nourishment of the animals. 
It requires no argument to show that these rooted 
animals, as we may call them, would not be conti- 
nued beyond one generation if the sexes were in 
different individuals, whether those individuals were 
of a single sex or both sexes. Therefore a third 
modification is required of them ; and this modifi- 
cation consists in a power of self-impregnation, by 
means of which each animal can continue its race 
without any reference to another animal of the 
same kind. This is not only necessary for the 
continuance of animals which are incapable of mo- 
tion ; but it is a security for that continuance, 
greater than any which can be possessed by animals 
which have distinct sexes. One oyster can, in 
this way, produce an entire oyster bed, if a current 
of the water or any other means should bring it 
Into a situation favourai\Ae \,o \\a ^xowtK: and as 
bU animak which liave l\v\a com^^yxsA ^^t.^ ^ \s. 



4 



EXTINCT RACES. 97 

may be called, or complete power of re-productiou 
in their individual bodies, are of a very enduring 
nature, and can bear to be transported over long 
distances, if kept in their proper element, the secu- 
rity which there is both for the distribution and the 
preservation of such molluscous animals is very 
great. Indeed we may say that, as they are chiefly 
inhabitants of the water, there is no casualty short 
of the final destruction of our globe, or the turning 
of it to a cinder, (which last appears to be the 
condition of the moon,) that could exterminate'those 
animals. We, in our common and limited mode 
of viewing things, are apt to look with scorn, or 
fiome feeling nearly approaching to it, upon the 
c humble oyster, which remains for its whole life 
^ time at rest at the bottom of the sea, and with 
^ admiration at such animals as the lion or the ele- 
phant. But when we glance over the surface of 
the globe, we find that lions and elephants have 
been in the lapse of ages reduced to small frag- 
ments of the armies in which they once existed — 
that the elephant is nowhere found in the living 
state except in South-eastern Asia and Southern 
Africa, and that the lion is very rare in the first of 
these countries. The elephant of our own climate 
was laid in the dust before the origin of any his- 
toric record ; and the animals which appear to have 
made the nearest approach to the lion, as now 
existent, have shared the same fate. The oyster, 
however, has remained secure amid the changes ; 
and we have sufficient evidence in monumental 
rocks, and in presently existing races, that the 
oyster is elder bom of nature than eitivcx \Jckfc ^'fc- 
phantor the Hon, and perfectly secure aigaiasX. cs^rj 
suob contingency as those which laaveWoWfc^ >^^^ 

VOL, II. jj 



98 Wesley's PriiLosoi»HY. 

out from the list of living creatures. These self- 
producing animals are yiviparoas, or produce their 
young ones in a living state, or not differing from 
the parent except in size. We have no means of 
ascertaining in what mode or manner the act of 
impregnation takes place in these animals; but 
still we have every reason to conclude that there is 
some process — some specific action, before a new 
being, be it of what kind it may, can come into 
Hfe. It is not improbable that this may take 
place in so minute a state of the germ, as that even 
a million of individuals would not be discernible 
by the very finest of our instruments. This is, 
however, no argument against the necessity of 
action as essential to the production of those ani- 
mals, just as it is essential to the production of all 
others. If, indeed, we could ever conceive it pos- 
sible that those animals could produce their broods 
merely as matter, and not as living creatures, then 
the analogy might be applied to the whole of the 
rest of nature, and we should be virtually endowing 
mere matter with a creative power, and thereby 
saying at one and the same time, that it was matter 
and not matter ; which is a manifest contradiction 
in terms, or impossible and absurd. 



CHAPTER IV. 

DIVISION OR CLASSIFICATION OF MOLLUSC!. 

Animals of this form are so exceedingly nume- 
rous^ and differ so greatly from each other in their 
forms and their economy, lYvaA. \t is xvot ijossible to 
veiw the whole of tbem aa oive ^^t^et?\ <^\v.%'a.^ ^^'i 
do with each of t\ie £out ^xftaX. eCvs\%vwvs. ^1 "C^wi 



CEPHALAPODA. 99 

vertebrated animals. They are accordingly arranged 
into six classes, according to their natural organi- 
zation ; and it is necessary to know something of 
the general characters of each class, in order to 
have the elements of a knowledge of the whole, 
before we come to the more particular consideration 
of the genera and the individuals. At least if we 
do not take this general knowledge along with us, 
our information respecting individuals is uncon- 
nected, and consequently of little use. 

Class I. — Cephalapoday which means that the 
head and what may be termed the feet are closely 
united together in respect of position. They 
have the cloak united on the under part of the 
body, and forming a muscular sack, in which all 
the viscera are contained. In some this is simple 
in its margins, but in others it is produced so as to 
form a sort of fins. The head, which is round and 
furnished with two large eyes, projects from the 
opening of the cloak. This head is furnished with 
a number of fleshy arms or feet, capable of being 
bent in every direction at the will of the animal, 
and furnished with suckers, or prehensile discs, by 
means of which they can adhere very firmly to any 
solid body to which they apply these organs. 
Those feet are the instruments with which they 
seize their prey ; and they also act as fins in swim- 
ming, and as feet in walking. When they swim they 
have the head backwards ; and when they crawl or 
walk, which is always at the bottom of the water, and 
never on land, they turn the head undermost, and 
carry the body upwards. The mouth is situated 
between the roots of the feet, and. \\. \^ ivam^^^ 
with two strong homy mandibles, >N\v\c\i\k^^^ ^wsvfe 
resemblance, to the bill of a parroV.. SoTRfe o^S. N\\^-«^ 

H 2 

r> »» f\ O >r> 



100 Wesley's philosophy. 

though singular in form, are of considerable size ; 
and they are proportionally voracious, preying 
indiscriminately upon fish and on crustaceous ani- 
mals, the coverings of which last they can readily 
break with their strong bills. They seize the fish 
in the free waters, and cling to them by means of 
the suckers on their feet ; but they often descend 
to the bottom to feed upon Crustacea. One very 
remarkable part of their economy is the power 
which they have of discharging a considerable 
quantity of a dark fluid as black as ink, by means of 
which they conceal themselves whenever they are 
so inclined. This substance furnishes a colouring 
matter, which is said to be used in the arts in some 
countries, and to produce an intense and durable 
black. 

In their internal organization those animals make 
a slight approach to the vertebrated classes ; for 
they contain within a cartilaginous cavity of the 
head a large ganglion of nervous matter, which, 
in some respects, resembles a brain. A nervous 
cord proceeds from each side of this central gang- 
lion, and expands into another ganglion in the 
orbit of the eye, by means of which that organ is 
very copiously supplied with nerves. The princi- 
pal part of the nervous texture appears to be ex- 
pended on the eyes, the mouth, and the feet, all 
of which are close to each other, and have power- 
ful, and, considering the general character of 
mollusca, very rapid action. Their ears are very 
imperfectly formed, and little is known of their 
other senses. 
As they are all, at least m «^s te ;sa they are 
now found in the living state, ac^^\iv^«:c:vKv^%,^'K^ 
of course breathe by meana oi ^\\Va> ^"^^^ ^'^ ^^^ 



CHAMBERED SHELLS. 101 

two in number, one situated on each side of the 
animal, and branched again and again, something 
like a fern leaf; and the water, by means of which 
air is applied to the blood in these structures, is 
received into the sack, and again expelled from 
it. There are two fleshy auricles attached to two 
branches of the vena cava, which propel the blood 
to those gills ; and after it has undergone the 
change there, it returns to the systematic ventricle, 
by the action of which it is distributed over the 
body. 

As those animals have free motion through the 
water, it is not necessary that they should have the 
third form of productive power, to which we have 
alluded, and, accoriUngly, the sexes are in different 
individuals. The flesh of some of them is eaten ; 
the black secretion already alluded to, is used in 
painting ; and the spongy internal shell which is 
found within the cloak of some of them, is used for 
various purposes in the arts, and popularly known 
by the name of cuttle-fish bone. 

This is, in many respects, a very extraordinary 
department of the animal kingdom. The living 
members of it are not very numerous ; they are 
all inhabitants of the deep seas, and range freely 
through the water, though individuals are not un- 
frequently cast ashore. Some of them are fur- 
nished with shells of singular form ; and in many 
instances these are divided into a succession of 
chambers, it being understood that the animal in- 
habits onlyt the last formed one, which, in many of 
the species, is larger than all the rest taken together. 
Those chambers are sometimes comi^WteV^ %«^^- 
rated from each other by the pat\A.\AOTva^ ^xAn "^iiv. 
other times, these are perforated; an^ \X.\% \y»^<5^"t' 



102 Wesley's philosophy. 

stood that, in the latter case, the animal has a sort 
of memhranous tube, which it can inflate with air, 
and thus rise to the surface of the water by its 
buoyancy. 

This is not very likely; because it is not in 
accordance with any one principle which we can 
consider as well established in any department of 
the history of nature. But the subject is one of 
considerable mystery as well as curiosity; and 
though the attention of mankind has been called 
to it from a very early period, and much has been 
said and written regarding it, it still remains un- 
determined. It was known long ago that, in the 
warmer seas, there are animals resembling the 
cuttle-fish in their general form, and also in 
their internal organization, which are found, in 
fine weather, s^^imming about on the surface of 
the water in very light and handsome shells, 
having their long arms extended over the back 
part of the shell, or rather over the sides ; and two 
broader arms partially erected over the whorl or 
curled end of the shell, something like two leaves, 
upon which the wind might act as it would do upon 
little sails, while the arms or feet, extending over 
the shell and dipping in the water, might serve the 
purpose of oars. It has been observed too, that 
when the weather is rough, and the water broken 
on the surface, these animals and their shells dis- 
appear ; and it was long considered that these mol- 
lusca not only made their shells, and came to the 
surface to use them as pleasure-boats in fine wea- 
ther, but that they had taught man the art of 
navigating the waters both by oars and sails. It 
so happens, however, that nowe o^ \)c^fe ^\!LYCMi\s. 
found in those shells have evex Yl^Al «ja^ ^^^"^ ^^ 



NAUTILUI3. 103 

their bodies in the least connected with the shell ; 
and we know from the structure of all other 
shelled animals, and we may almost say, from the 
very necessity of the case, that no animal can make 
a shell without being attached to that shell, be- 
cause the shell is a secretion which continues during 
the whole growth of the animalj and no animal of 
whose proper organization a shell forms part, can 
continue to liv« after the connexion between it and 
the shell is broken. But there is no connexion 
whatever between the ocythoe and the nautilus 
shell in which it has been so c^en found; and on 
the other hand, the animal has never been ob- 
served but in the shell. It is, therefore, impossi- 
ble to conclude with certainty, whether the shell 
belongs to the animal or not ; and this is one of 
the points in natural history upon which it seems 
very difficult to obtain correct information. More 
recent observers, who have examined a considerable 
number of the animals found in those shells, men- 
tion, that they have never met with any but females ; 
and those females always contained a considerable 
number of eggs in an advanced state, in a part of 
the shell which the water did not reach. There is 
at least some glimmering of a reason for the sin^ 
gular economy of the animals in this, though it 
does not establish any necessary connexion between 
the animal and the shelL It may be that a higher 
temperature and more free exposure to the air is 
necessary to mature the eggs, than could be ob- 
tained at the depth at which the animals usually 
reside ; but even this, though there is some shadow 
of probability in it, is not more fiillY e&ta.\A\&\v&d. 
than the other parts of the hisloT'j oi ^\% \ftQ»N* 
singular animal 



106 Wesley's philosophy. 

more excludively in these ; because the animals are 
incapable of performing any motion but that of 
swimming, which they do by means of two wing-like 
fins attached to the sides of the mouth. The body is 
without any cloak, in some of the species ; others 
have a sort of gelatinous envelope ; while others 
have the terminal part of the body enveloped in a 
small and weak spiral shell. None of them is above 
an inch in length, if they be so much ; but their 
numbers are astonishing, and they are generally 
found swimming near the surface. The whale 
swims along, often with great velocity, and with its 
huge mouth opened ; and the plates of whalebone 
which are attached to the roof of the mouth, hang- 
ing down at the sides, and forming, by the fringed 
borders at their edges and extremities, a very 
efficient net, capture these little creatures in 
such multitudes, that they pass toward the throat 
of the whale in a continued stream, during all the 
time that it is feeding ; and thus, large as the ani- 
mal is, and small and simple as are the individual 
portions of its food, the whale fares as well, and 
perhaps has less exertion in feeding by the mar- 
gins and in the openings of the polar ice, than any 
other wild animal has on the richest pasture to be 
found upon the earth. In the warm seas, moUusca 
of this class are not nearlv so numerous ; andj 
therefore, the whales of those seas are provided 
with teeth, and wide throats ; and some of them 
are able to swallow a fish fourteen or fifteen feet 
long, more easily than the Greenland whale could 
swallow a herring. 
Class IIL^ — Gastero'poda. The general charac- 
ter /'•om which this div\B\otv\axkame^,\^ KJwiY^v 
session of a thick fleshy diBC,\va.\\^%X)^^^^^'^'^ '^^ 



GASTEROPODA. 107 

adhering, either simply by its surface, or by slimy 
matter which it secretes. ITiis disc is called the 
foot ; and as it is placed upon the belly, or under- 
part of the animal, the name '* belly foot " is quite 
appropriate. 

The animals of this class are very numerous, 
and met with in all parts of the world, in the sea, 
in the fresh water, and on the land ; so that some 
of them breathe the air by means of a sort of lungs, 
and others the water by means of gills. All of them 
are furnished with a cloak on the upper part ; and 
in very many, this cloak produces a shell; but 
both the shell and the animal vary so much in the 
different orders and families, that no general de- 
scription or definition can be made to, apply. There 
are some in which the shell does not appear ex* 
temally, but is inclosed within the cloak ; and 
there are some in which the shell is entirely want- 
ing. The head is placed at the fore part, and can be 
drawn within the mantle in most of the species ; 
and upon the head, just over the mouth, there are 
usually situated, tentacula, varying from two to 
six, which are understood to be very sensitive, and 
may be organs both of touch and of smell. The 
eyes, when present, are generally very small, and 
they are variously situated, being sometimes at the 
roots of the tentacula, sometimes on the sides, and 
sometimes on the points. Their organs of respiration 
vary much in form ; but there is one character in the 
vital system of the whole, namely, that of having a 
single systematic ventricle, which sends the blood 
through the system. / 

The greater number are covered witb sj^jk^l* 
shells, or shells consisting of a greaX^t ot %Tscd^^^ 
number of whorls, or turns TO>m&* 11 ^^ ^^*>a^ 



ACEPHALA. 109 

animals can take in its shell, is much more pro- 
found and perfect than that of any of the verte- 
brated animals. Some land shells are without the 
operculum ; and it is probable that they may not 
repose so profoundly as those which are provided 
with that appendage. But, in the case even of 
these, whenever the cold renders it necessary that 
they should retire for the winter, or when they are 
driven into retirement by long continued drought, 
there is a temporary operculum made of glutinous 
matter, which very speedily consolidates, so as to 
resist the action of the weather, and most likelv to 
cut off all communication with the atmosphere. 

The animals included in this class are so nume- 
rous, that it has to be subdivided into many orders ; 
and a full description of the species which are 
known would fill many volumes, while t^ere are 
many other species of which we have no knowledge 
whatever. Neither would it be easy to say what 
are the uses in the economy of nature of creatures 
80 many and so varied. Some of them consume 
the superabundance of growing vegetables on the 
land ; and others appear to act as scavengers, more 
especially in the waters ; and then they themselves 
serve as food for a vast number of other animals, 
while their shells contribute to the formation of 
rocks and mountains. 

Class IV. — Acephala, '^ headless animals." — 
Mollusca of this class have, as the name imports, 
no apparent head; and the mouth is concealed 
between the folds of the cloak. This cloak is 
doubled over them, sometimes with the margins 
free, and sometimes with them \mite& \a^<&\)(v^t ^q 
as to form a sack. In the greater hmtc^t H2av^ 
mantle Is fumished with two valvea ol AiO\ ^\K^ 



110 WESLET*S PHILOSOPHY. 

are united by a binge, and capable of being 
opened and sbut ; but tbere are also others which 
are naked, or have the covering cartilaginous or 
membranous. Sometimes the shell consists of a 
number of valves or moveable pieces, and is attached 
to or covers only a part of the body of the animal ; 
and there are some of them which can use the 
valves of this shell as very efficient instruments for 
boring into the earth, into wood, or even into 
stone. 

The mouth is always without teeth in these 
animals, so that they can feed only upon suck 
small particles of matter as the water brings 
within their reach ; and they are quite incapable 
of moving from place to place in search of their 
food, or for any other purpose. The brain, or 
principal ganglion of the nervous system, is seated 
immediately on the mouth ; and there are other 
two ganglions connected with the viscera. They 
have two gills ; and besides the systematic ventri- 
cle which propels over the body the blood which 
has been aerated in the gills, they do not in general 
possess any other organ of circulation. All of 
them are self-producing animals, not requiring any 
union of sexes ; and the numbers of the young are 
in many of the species beyond the range of arith- 
metic. All of them are aquatic ; for animals of 
so simple a structure could not live upon land ; and 
the greater number are found in the sea. They 
are, however, entirely bank and shore animals ; 
and never found at any very great depth. Some 
of them have a very slow, motion, but there are 
others which remain immoveaJoVe. T\v«^ w:e divided 

nito two orders, those wh\c\x\v«k;ve^^'&>^xA'\iw5R.<b 

which have not. 



SHELLED ACEPHALA. Ill 

' Shelled acephala, — This includes by far the 
greater number, and may be said to comprise the 
most important species for the use of man of all 
the molluscous animals. It comprehends all the 
bivalve shells, or those which consist of two shells 
hinged together ; and in addition to these it com- 
prehends some of those which have more than two 
valves. The gills of these consist of four leaflets, 
which are inserted between the edges of the man- 
tle, of which we have an example in what is called 
the beard of the common oyster. The mouth is 
.at one extremity ; and the heart, which is single, is 
situated near the hinge. When there is a foot for 
the purpose of motion or adhesion, this foot is 
placed on the under part, between the leaflets of the 
gills. This foot, in many of the species, possesses 
a very singular property, that of spinning threads, 
which are termed bi/ssi; and there are some species 
in which those threads are so long and so abundant 
that articles of clothing have been made of them, 
somewhat similar to those made of silk. The 
byssiLs always consists of a bundle or number of 
threads ; these issue from the bottom or disc of 
the foot, but it has not been ascertained that there 
is any spinning apparatus for their production, as 
there is in spiders, and in those caterpillars which 
produce threads. They can, however, fix the ends 
of them to those substances to which they wish to 
adhere, and also replace them by means of the 
foot ; but how those operations are perfonned by 
an apparatus apparently so very simple as this foot 
it is not easy to say. 

These animals close their slieWa \i^ \cvs«»& ^ 
muscular action ; but when ihe mu!a^^^ t^«x.> "Osn^ 
shells open by the contraction oi aa A«i's!C\e. Xv^^"" 



112 Wesley's philosophy. 

incnt, so that the valves opened is the true state 
of repose in that animal ; and there are some in 
which these valves do not shut completely close, 
though they do in the greater number. It 
is highly probable that those species which inhabit 
at a sufficient depth for being always covered by 
the water, never close their shells, except to pro- 
tect themselves from enemies ; but the littoral 
ones, which inhabit without low- water mark, and 
are thus exposed at every tide, are always found 
with the shells closed when the ground which they 
occupy is dry ; and they appear to be capable of 
including between the shells a portion of water^ 
which preserves them when the tide ebbs away. 

There are five families of bivalves : oysters, mus- 
sels, chamacea or clam shells, cockles, and inclusa^ 
or those which have the mantle closed for a certain 
part of its length. Some of these are celebrated for 
the pearls which they produce, others for their flavour 
and wholesomeness as food, others again for their 
immense size, and others still for the mischief which 
they perpetrate. Very many of them are highly 
interesting in a natural history point of view ; but 
we have room to mention only one or two of the 
more remarkable. 

First, the pearl oyster, (^Avicula Margaritifera), 
This species inhabits the sea, and is found only in 
the warm latitudes. The shell is nearly semicir- 
cular, of a greenish colour on the outside, but of a 
beautiful pearly lustre within. It is from a disease 
in the organs by which this pearly matter is elabo- 
rated, that the pearls so much esteemed are pro- 
duced. The whole race oi bwalves appear to 
^PPb' animal layers to t\ve "mnet ^\aW^^ ^\ ^C^rnx 
shells ; and they have tVve ^oviex ol T^:^^m\i!^^^^ 



PEARL OYSTER. 113 

injury. The pearl is composed of matter fitted for 
forming the shell ; but by some leak in the ducts, 
which convey it to its proper destination, it collects 
generally inside the cloak. It occasionally occurs 
in all shells which are pearly on the inside ; and 
we have met with a pearl in a common mussel. 
It is, however, in the species above-named that 
they are produced of the finest quality and in the 
greatest abundance. There are pearl fisheries in 
some of the tropical seas of America, in the Persian 
Gulf, and in various other places ; but one of the 
most celebrated is on the west coast of the island 
of Ceylon, off the bay of Condatchy, about twelve 
miles south from the island of Manaar. This bay 
is the general resort of the boats employed in this 
fishery, and the persons connected with it. At this 
part of the country the soil is of a sandy character, 
and scarcely inhabited at all, except at the season of 
the pearl fishery, when it assumes the character of a 
populous town,with several streets, about a mile in 
length. The habitations are huts, which the Maho- 
metan natives of the island are most active in erect- 
ing. The Singalese, however, are not divers ; this 
is ascribed to their timidity of character. They 
resort to this place in great numbers at the season 
in question, as to a fair, the fishermen especially, 
to dispose of their fish to the multitude. About 
the end of October, in the year preceding a pearl 
fishery, during a short interval of fine weather, a 
survey of the banks takes place, and a few oysters 
are taken for a specimen. The banks, which are 
fourteen in number, extend over a space thirty 
miles long, and twenty four miles iu bi^^.^\3cL, 
When the £shery is resolved on, iio\!vc^\i^ ^i^^ct- 
tisement is given, for all concerned to te^?L\x VQ'Cftfe 
VOL u, I 



114 Wesley's philosophy. 

ground on the 20th of the succeeding February, 
when the boats come from Jaffna, Ramiseram, 
Nagore, Tutakoreen, Travancore, Kilkerry, and 
other parts of the coast of Coromandel. The 
banks are situated about fifteen miles from the 
shore of Condatchy . The pearl oysters are all of the 
same species, but they vary in their qualities accord- 
ing to the nature of the ground to which they are 
attached, and the appearance of the numerous, and 
often large zoophytes, which adhere to the outsides 
of their shells. Their number on the banks varies 
considerably, as they are liable to be washed away 
by the current of the tide, and also to be buried in 
the sand deposited by the current. The pearls are in 
the fleshy part of the oyster, near one of the angles 
at the hinse ; and each individual generally contains 
several pearls. The fishery is let to one party for a 
stipulated sum, and two-thirds of this sum must be 
paid in advance. In 1804 the renter brought with 
him a large family with thirteen palanquins, to each 
of which thirteen well-dressed bearers were attached. 
He is allowed one hundred and fifty boats' fishing 
for thirty days. The boatmen are aroused a little 
before midnight with immense bustle, and, after 
their ablutions and incantations, they set sail for the 
fishing ground ; and about half- past six in the morn- 
ing the diving commences. A kind of open scaf- 
folding is projected from each side of the boat, and 
from this erection the diving tackle is suspended. 
This consists of three stones of fifty-six pounds in 
weight on one side, and two on the other. The 
diving stone hangs by a rope and slip knot, descend- 
ing a. little way into the water. In the rope imme- 
diately above the stone t\i^Te *\^ «l ^\.xwi^ Vi^^^ to 
receive f like a stirrup, lYie iooX. oi XJaa ^vq«^^^ 



PEARL FISHERY. 115 

puts one foot in the loop, and the other in a hasket 
formed of a hoop and net-work. When all is 
ready, he grasps his nostrils with one hand, and 
with the other he gives a sudden pull to the run- 
ning knot, and instantly descends; hoth the rope 
of the stone and that of the basket follow him. 
The moment he reaches the bottom he disengages 
his foot from the stone, which is immediately 
drawn up to be ready for the next diver. The diver 
at the bottom throws himself on his face, and col- 
lects every thing he can lay hold of into the basket. 
When prepared to ascend he gives a jerk to the 
basket-rope, and is speedily drawn up by the per- 
sons in the boat. Using his exertions in warping 
himself up by the rope, he arrives at the surface 
of the water a considerable time before the basket 
makes its appearance. On arriving at the surface, 
the individual swims about, or rests himself by lay- 
ing hold of an oar or rope, till his turn comes to 
descend again. Some of the divers perform the 
dip in one minute, and a minute and a half or two 
minutes is the longest time that any of them can 
remain under water without injury. The basket is 
often so loaded that it requires more than one 
man to haul it up. The shark-charmers form 
an indispensable department of the establishment. 
All those impostors belong to one family, and the 
natives will not descend without knowing that one 
of them is in attendance on the fleet. Two are 
constantly employed during the fishing, one in the 
head pilot's boat, and the other performing cere- 
monies on shore. Sharks are often seen from the 
boats and by the divers, but an accident rax^iVj 
occurs. This superstition operates aa ^ y^q\&^*Cnss^ 
to the oyster banks from plunder «X. o>3cL«t >C\\siei'^* 

i2 



116 Wesley's philosophy. 

When the hed is rich, a diver often puts upwards 
of one hundred and fifty oysters into his basket at 
one dip ; but when thinly scattered, sometimes not 
more than five. After diving, a small quantity of 
blood usually issues from the nose and ears. This 
is considered as a favourable symptom ; and the 
diver performs his task with greater comfort after 
the bleeding has commenced. They account the 
labour a pleasant pastime, and never complain 
of fatigue, unless the banks are poor in oys- 
ters. Two divers are appointed to attend upon 
one stone, and they go down alternately. The 
time of working is from five to six hours each at 
a task. About one or two o'clock, when the sea- 
breeze sets in, on a signal being given by the head 
pilot, the fleet set sail, and return to the shore ; 
which they generally reach about four or ^\e, and 
are met by an immense concourse of people, who 
assemble to welcome their arrival. All the pilots 
and many of the divers being Romish Christians, 
they never fish on Sunday, and the day of rest is 
also convenient for the Hindus. After satisfying 
various claims, the diver has a fourth part of the 
oysters he brings up ; and he sells his share on the 
spot, to some of the numerous speculators who 
resort to the landing-place. In a successful season, 
each man carries home at the end of the fishery 
forty or fifty pagodas. So various is the success of 
this fishery, that a boat has been known to land in 
one day thirty-three thousand oysters, and in 
another not more than three hundred. The oysters 
belonging to the renter are piled up in inclosures 
formed by palisades, and the opening of them does 
not commence till tlae ^a\iet'^ \?» cQ.m\^^t^;^^ '^d- 
vanced ; but adventurers on ai sox^Si ^^^^ ^«w«^^^ 



SHIP WORM. 117 

open theirs when they buy them, or on the following 
morning. By some the oysters are thrown away ; 
but others leave them to putrify, for the purpose 
of obtaining with greater certainty the remaining 
pearls, should any remain, particularly those of 
small size. Two days are generally required for 
this putrefaction. Many precautions are used to 
prevent the secreting of pearls, but not with com- 
plete success. After the pearls have been separated 
from the putrid flesh of the oysters, and from the 
sand along with which the mass has been agitated, 
in boats for that purpose, they are sorted into 
sizes, by being passed through sieves or saucers 
full of round holes ; those with the largest holes 
being first used, and the others in succession. The 
large ones are examined, to see if they contain 
any blemishes; and they are then drilled with 
great skill, though by very rude and simple tools. 
Many of the native merchants, who resort here from 
Madras and other parts, are extremely wealthy, 
and make a great display of opulence in their 
personal appearance, their retinue, and the quantity 
of specie which accompanies them. Pearls sell at 
• a higher price in the market of Condatchy during 
the fishing season, than in any other part of India. 
The only other animal of this class, which our 
limits will permit us to notice, is one which is as 
remarkable for its destroying powers, as the one 
just mentioned is for the beauty of those orna- 
mental pearls which are the result of a diseased 
state in the production of its shell. The one which 
we are about to noticp is, the ship-worm. Teredo 
navalisy which is more destructive oi Ne^^^^ wwv- 
gating the seas, than is all ftie ivvr^ ol ^^ 
elements. It is originally, at least va. ^'^ ^slo^^* 
instructive species, a native oi ftie ^«rcast ^"a^** 



118 Wesley's philosophy. 

though it has been introduced in the timber of 
ships in most of the maritime parts of Europe ; 
and there is no means of protecting a ship against 
its ravages, but by having the bottom, as far as the 
water reaches, sheathed with copper or other metal. 
At one time this creature threatened destruction 
to the whole of those rich parts of Holland which 
are below the level of the tide. Those countries 
are defended from the sea by means of dykes ; and 
as the waves break on them with great violence 
and irregularity, it is necessary to bind them to- 
gether with timber. The teredo got into that 
timber, and multiplied to such an extent that the 
posts and beams were drilled into holes as if they 
had been honeycombs. Those holes or passages 
are carried through the substance of the timber in 
every direction, though the creatures generally 
avoid the outside ; and thus, while the plank or the 
timber appears sound to the eye, its strength is 
entirely gone. 

This species has the cloak extended farther than 
the two lozenge-shaped valves ; and it terminates 
by two short tubes, which are cased in a kind of 
shelly covering, or rather have a sort of plate of 
shell upon each side. It is believed, that in order 
to penetrate as fast as it increases in size, the 
teredo excavates the wood or timber, by means of 
its valves. The tubes, however, remain near the 
hole by which it effected an entrance ; and through 
this opening, by means of its palate, it obtains 
water and aliment. The apartment it resides in is 
Jjned with a calcareous crust, which exudes from 
its body, forming a secoxvd ^.wWW itiell for it. In 
the sea ports of Europe it \^ ^. N«t^ T\wkV2iVia» ^ijfii\ 

destructive animal. 



SHELL-LESS ACEPHALA. 119 

These singular creatures do not confine their 
depredations to the timher of ships, but extend 
them to all timber which floats at sea, in the 
warm latitudes. There are species in the colder 
seas also ; and from the same vessels navigating 
the seas of all latitudes, they have, as it were, 
sown those animals indiscriminately over the deep. 
Originally, however, those of the cold latitudes 
were but little given to the destruction of timber ; 
and in this we find a remarkable instance of the 
harmony that there is between the sea and the 
land in different regions of the globe. We men- 
tioned formerly, that in the tropical countries, where 
timber is not wanted as fuel, countless myriads 
of insects are set over it to consume it ; while in 
the polar countries, where timber is necessary for 
^el, both in the recent state, and after it has been 
converted into coal in the lapse of years, the ani- 
mal destroyers of timber are comparatively few. 
We now see that the same thing takes place in the 
seas: the drift-wood of the tropical regions is 
speedily consumed by the teredo ; while that of the 
polar regions is left entire, to supply the people of 
the woodless shores, in the extreme north, with 
timber for fuel, and for all other necessary pur-^ 
poses, or to form accumulations, which, in the 
course of time, are changed into coal. Who is theru 
so blind as not to see in this, not only that there is 
purpose and design in the creation, but that all the 
parts are designed to work together for the good 
of man, — who has only to inform himself of their 
different natures and uses, in order to have the 
full enjoyment of them ? 

Shell-less Acephala. These "ViSive \)Cife Ovo^ 
£[>rmed into a sort of tube. TVxey w^\i\)X. le^ '^^ 



120 Wesley's philosophy* 

number, but some of them are very peculiar io 
structure. One portion of them are insulated, and 
others are united into a common mass, which some- 
times takes the form of a star, and sometimes of a 
hollow tube, which swims in a peculiar manner by 
alternate dilatation and contraction. One of those 
tubes often consists of a great number of animals ; 
and it is probable, that there are very many species 
by far too minute for being seen by the naked eye. 
Such as are known are strongly phosphorescent, or 
give out light when the water is agitated ; and they 
often exist in such numbers, that all the little rippling 
waves produced by the stroke of oars or the passage 
of a ship, seem tipped with fire, in a manner which 
is equally astonishing and beautiful. It is likely, 
however, that this phosphorescence belongs to many 
other sea animals besides these ; and even fishes, 
when they are just beginning to become tainted, 
shine in the dark. The wonders of the deep are, 
however, too many and too mighty for being 
fathomed by the understanding of man. 

Class V. — Branchiopoda. These animals get 
their name from two arms, which extend from the 
body between the folds of the cloak, and which are 
capable of being coiled up and withdrawn. They 
bear some resemblance to the shelled animals of 
the preceding class. They have the cloak divided 
into two lobes, and each lobe furnished with a 
valve of shell ; but they are furnished with a pe- 
duncle or stalk, by which they remain permanently 
attached to the rocks ; and their arms, which are 
furnished with fringed extremities, and fleshy in 
their substance, are no doubt useful to them in 
seizing their food, and coxivey\xv^\^.^.<^ \Wvc \sNssv3Sfea», 
They are of course se\^pTod\vcm^ ^^^^^'a^'v^'^'i^ 



CJRRIFODA. 121 

individual. In the living state, those animals are 
far from numerous in any part of the world ; but 
there are some, the genus terebratula, for instance, 
of which vast numbers are found in the secondary 
strata of rocks in England, and many other coun- 
tries. 

Class VI. — Cirripoda. The animals of this 
class are very peculiar in their structure ; holding 
a sort of intermediate place between the moUusca 
and the articulated or jointed animals^ but par- 
taking most of the character of the former. They 
are covered by a cloak and plates of shell, which 
resemble those observable in several species of the 
acephala. The mouth is provided with lateral jaws. 
The belly is furnished with filaments called cirri, 
which are arranged in twos, composed of a vast 
number of little ciliated articulations, corresponding 
to a kind of fins or feet^ similar in appearance to 
those seen below the tail of some of the Crustacea. 
The heart is situated in the region of the back, and 
the branchiae on the sides ; the nervous system 
forms a senes of ganglions on the abdomen. The 
cirri with which these animals are furnished, bear 
some resemblance to the articulated arms of some 
of the acephala ; and in some parts of their internal 
structure they have resemblance to the bivalve 
shells. Their position in the shell is such, that the 
mouth is undermost, with the cirri opposite to its 
orifice ; but though these agitate the water, they 
only assist the animal in its feeding, and not in the 
performance of locomotion of any kind. There 
are two divisions of them, the one with the shells 
and active part of the animal placed u^oiv tba e^- 
tremity of a cartilaginous ped\xii^e\ ^\A *Cc\& 
other sessile or without any sta\k) \w^. veaxsL^^^- 



122 WESL£Y*S PHILOSOPHY. 

ately in contact with the substance to which they 
adhere. 

Of the pedunculated ones, the most remarkable 
is, that which is known to sailors by the name of 
the bernacle. It attaches itself to the bottoms of 
ships, to the under sides of floating pieces of timber, 
or even to the skin of marine animals. Their rate 
of growth is very quick ; so that in brief space the 
bottom of a vessel may become covered with a crop 
of them, a foot or more in length, by which its 
progress through the water is much diminished. The 
peduncles are frequently branched ; and the size of 
the shell part is always in proportion to the thick- 
ness of the peduncle ; and it is understood that the 
germs of the animals are lodged in the peduncular 
part, which is rendered highly probable from the 
fact of the branching. Many of the germs are, 
however, committed to the waters ; and there have 
been instances of some of the species being at- 
tached to a floating feather, and arriving at ma- 
turity before that feather was decomposed. The true 
bernacle (anatifa), is, however, chiefly found upon 
floating timber ; and it is common in the seas even 
of the high latitudes. Floating wood has a ten- 
dency to " come a-shore" when the waters are agi- 
tated ; and when there are bernacles attached to it, 
it of course brings them along with it. The same 
storms, which are most violent in the early part of 
the winter, often exhaust some of the migrant 
geese, which spend the summer in the high lati- 
tudes, and migrate southward when the severe 
weather sets in. The floating wood, the bernacles 
attached to it, and the eylvauf&ted geese, are some- 
times cast on shore togelYiet \ wv^ >ODiv^,\w ^^*«sMiSk 
of superstition^ led to a ver^ tY^^\3\Qiv>& l^i^^ ^\^.- 



ARTICULATA. 123 

ceming them, namely, that the hernacles were pro- 
duced by trees, and that, in course of time, the said 
bemacles changed to geese ; and on this account the 
particular goose to which this fabulous origin was 
imputed, is still called thebemacle goose, and some- 
times the tree goose. Absurd, contrary to every 
operation in nature, and, impossible, as those 
changes are, they were once regularly believed by 
writers on natural history ; and some went even so 
far as to mention cases of the change which had been 
seen actually taking place, in some of the pools of 
fresh water in the central counties of England. 
Now the bemacle is never by any chance found, 
except in salt water ; and the goose which the 
fables represented as being produced in this curi- 
ous way, is rare in those parts of England at all 
seasons of the year, and never by any chance 
breeds there. Thefew remarks and illustrations 
which we have now made, are all that our limits 
will permit us to give relative to this very interest- 
ing division of invertebrated animals ; and we must 
now briefly advert to those which are still more 
numerous, and of a different type from any which 
have been noticed. 



CHAPTER IV. 

AHTICULATKO AMIMAL8 AND THEIR SRYERAL CLASSES. 

Though the articulated animals diflFer much 
from each other, in size, in form, and in habits, 
yet there is a general character which runs through 
the whole, and which agrees well with the ^e\\«t^V 
aawe. Like the moUusca tVie^ \L«jse >^ YXiNsrw^ 
bones of any kind ; but ihey iiV^«cj^\lv?^ ^ ^oset- 



124 Wesley's philosophy. 

ing of some consistency, and frequently of consi- 
derable hardness and strength. This covering, 
even when hardest, does not approach the nature 
of shell, but is wholly an animal substance, bearing 
a resemblance to horn, or rather to the hard plates 
with which the bodies of tortoises are covered. 

This external covering preserves the shape of 
the animal, answers a purpose in its economy 
nearly similar to that of the skeleton in the ver- 
tebrated classes, and, for mere strength and en- 
durance in motion, it is often far superior to any 
skeleton. The soft parts which are connected with 
the external action of vertebrated animals, are all 
external of the bones, whether they be organs of 
motion, of sensation, or of supply and repair to 
the others. They are therefore exposed to the vi- 
cissitudes of the weather; and, when the animal 
comes quickly in contact with hard substances, 
those external parts are liable to be bruised and in- 
jured by being pressed against the bones of the 
animal itself. The external crust, or other firm 
covering of the articulated animals, protects all 
their active structures from any injury of this kind ; 
because there is no soft part which can come be- 
tween an external object, and that firm part of the 
animal which supports all the rest. 

This covering, be its consistency what it may, 
is always made up of a number of rings or jointed 
pieces, whatever in other respects may be the form 
of the animal. Some of them have no distinct 
limbs or organs of motion of any kind, and no visi- 
ble heads or organs of sensation. But even these 
have the body with a covervu^ eowslsting of rings. 
In those again which have ^To^\i<ie$^ \!aea^w«^^ 
ibose members are also ioxme^ Ql\o\\v\,^\^\feR«5», 



ARTICULATA. 125 

In one or other of the races they are adapted for 
all kinds of motion. They crawl, they walk, 
they run, they leap, they swim, and they fly; 
and they perform each and all of those motions 
with far greater vigour in proportion to their size 
than animals with internal skeletons. Even those 
which, as is the case with the common earth worm, 
have their coverings soft, and are without any 
external organs of motion, and thus limited to 
crawling, have greater power in the action of their 
bodies than those animals of other grand divisions 
which are without external members. Thus the 
common earth worm can penetrate the soil with 
great facility ; and in some of the warm countries 
there are leeches which can move rapidly, and pass 
through very small openings by drawing out their 
bodies as fine as a thread ; and they can as rapidly 
bring them into that shortened form which the 
animal assumes when not in motion. 

Those which have jointed members are all re- 
markable for their strength and the fatigue which 
they can undergo, without ever appearing to be in 
the least fatigued. In one respect they labour 
under a disadvantage as compared with skeletoned 
animals ; because the external muscles admit of 
the bones being united by an endless variety of 
joints. But as the muscles of the articulated ani- 
mals are within the hard parts which they move, 
there can be only two different modifications of 
joint. The first of these is a common hinge joint ; 
and it is the only motion which can be produced if 
the hard parts are in contact with each other ; be- 
cause those parts must come into contact with each 
other on both sides of the opening \Jmo\x'^ '^^{vSti 
the muscles pass. This fixes the asia o^ xsiCk'Cxow 



1^6 WESLEY'S PHILOSOPHY. 

constantly to the line passing through those two 
points of contact; and as the motion of the 
joint must be at right angles to this axis, the plane 
of the motion is fixed. So also^ if the hard parts 
are united by a flexible portion, as is the case in 
the bodies of many of those animals, the motion 
produced by the same muscles must always be in 
one plane only ; and if it is to bend in different 
directions, there must be as many sets of muscles 
as there are directions. The joint where two 
internal bones meet each other, is not necessarily 
tied to one plane, even when acted on by one set 
of muscles only ; for the muscles, considering them 
lengthwise, are applied about a line as an axis, 
whereas the muscles of the articulated animal are 
applied round the inside of a tube. The bending 
of a line takes place upon a mere point, and there 
is nothing to resist its being bent in one direction 
more than in another ; but the bending of a tube is 
on a surface equal to the section of that tube ; and 
thus it can be bent only in one way. 

This is a part of the mechanical structure of ani- 
mals which is well worthy of our best attention ; 
because it points out to us the strict observance of 
the principles of mechanics which runs through 
the structure of animals ; the beautiful adaptation 
of the structure of the animal to the kind and 
degree of sensation and resource which the animal 
has ; and also how well the purely mechanical part 
of the animal structure agrees with what we know 
to be true in the case of our mechanical contri* 
vances. The more simple that any machine is, it is 
the better calculated for performing its functions ; 
that 18 f the same power ^\v\Xm^ \\. ycl \sift\.vQ>w eua» 
^les it to do more work, IYiou^Yl V)cl^ Vm^^ oH^^^ 



ARTICULATA. 127 

which it can do are limited hy the simplicity. 
And when 'we increase the parts of our machine, 
and fit it for the performance of several kinds of 
work, its efficiency in any one kind, in proportion 
to the power applied to it, is always less as the 
number of kinds of work becomes greater. 

It is precisely the same with animals: life in 
the animal, is that which answers to the power by 
which we put our artificial machine in motion ; and 
just as in the machine, the power applied is not 
derived from the matter which it moves, but comes 
from another source altogether — immediate crea- 
tion, independent of the creation of matter, but 
probably coeval with it, in the first instance, and 
the peculiar mode of re-production of the creature 
in every succeeding instance. If the functions 
which this life has to perform are many, then a 
complicated mechanical structure is necessary in 
the organization, or body, by means of which those 
functions are performed ; and as the functions be- 
come fewer, the necessary organization always 
becomes simpler and simpler. In proportion as 
the functions are few and the body simple, a 
smaller exertion of living action is necessary 
for the performance of them, and in proportion 
as they are, more numerous a greater exertion 
of living action is required. Man possesses 
the most universal body; and therefore, inde- 
pendently altogether of the immortal spirit, there 
is more exertion of the action of merely ani- 
mal life in man than in any other animal. When 
we come to such animals as the articulated ones, 
the functions are, generally speaking, very limited 
in number; hut they are perCormeA. YjViXi '^^'sA^^- 
fiiJ strength in proportion to tlie iviA qI ^<& '^'^' 



128 Wesley's philosophy. 

formers. Man soon gets fatigued if he attempts 
to carry more than a weight equal to his own, and 
he cannot lift, even for a moment, very much more 
than this ; and man is quite unahle to make his way 
if that way is hlocked up hy perpendicular objects 
so much higher than himself as that he cannot 
reach the top of them with his hands. But an ant, 
which is a little creature, readily makes its way 
over perpendicular obstacles krger in proportion to 
it than castles and palaces are in proportion to 
man ; and there are some beetles, and even some '- 
caterpillars, which can move weights as great in — 
proportion to their own, as if man were to walk 
across a town pushing aside the houses, or hfting — 
them and tossing them out of his way. Very many^ 
of the articulated animals are set to watch over^ 
and to clear of refuse, places which only very mi- 
nute animals can reach ; and their great strength, 
in proportion to their size, fits them admirably for 
such purposes. 

In their organization the animals of this division 
differ so much from each other, that it is impossible 
to give a general account of them ; but they are 
conveniently divided into four classes— ^nweZ/wi^a, 
Crvstacea, Arachniday and Insecta, By the 
older naturalists, all of these were considered as 
insectsj and as the word insect means nothing 
more than that the body of the animal is " cut 
into,'* or divided into segments by markings more 
or less deep, there was no great objection to it — 
only the animals are so exceedingly numerous and 
so diversified, that it is desirable to sub-divide 
them ; and the very first class was not considered 
by the same naturalists as Vivsec\,^\iM\.^^^Qit\s!>a^th.e 
\naine which is invaria\Ay gwe^ V^^Jcieaim^^Y^saa 



ANNELLIDA. 129 

language. We shall very briefly notice the four 
classes, interspersing our notices with more de- 
tailed accounts of some of the most carious or 
characteristic species. 

Class I. — Annellida. These are usually ani- 
mals of a very simple form externally, of which 
the common earth worm and the leech are speci- 
mens ; but simple as they are, they more resemble 
the vertebrated animals in some particulars than 
any other of the invertebrated races do. They 
have red blood, if not in the whole, at least in the 
greater number of the species ; and for this reason 
they are often called red-blooded worms. They 
have a double circulation, and one or more fleshy 
hearts, which are well developed. Their bodies 
are more or less elongated, and always marked 
with numerous rings ; and the first ring, which is 
called the head, is scarcely distinguishable from 
the others, except by the presence of the mouth. 
They have never any articulated legs, but many of 
them have a sort of little bristles, with which they 
can take hold of substances, and contrive to move. 
Their mouth is sometimes furnished with jaws, 
sometimes it is only a tube, and sometimes, again, 
it is a sucker. Their organs of sense are very 
obscure, though there are black points upon some 
of them which are considered as eyes. They have, 
however, but small occasion for the use of such 
organs, because they live in concealment either in 
the water or under the ground. Some of them 
have the skin soft without any protection, except 
the earth into which they retire ; but others con- 
struct for themselves little pipes or ca&e% o^ ^a:cw^ 
and various matters, whicli they ^c\dL<&x Xic^^^^^^"^ 
hyr means of an animal secretion; wid^. ^\)a«t% ^^ 

VOL, II, ^ ' 



130 Wesley's philosophy. 

out from their bodies a calcareous matter, of which 
they make a sort of tubular shell. The majority 
of them are hermaphrodites, and produce a reci- 
procal impregnation, and they are very productive. 
They contribute largely to the food of various 
races of animals. 

Though they are almost without organs of sense, 
their sensation is in general remarkably keen. 
They are susceptible to sounds, and to the slightest 
changes of temperature ; on which latter account 
they are sometimes used for indicating changes of 
the weather, as the coming change affects their 
extremely delicate bodies a considerable time before 
man has any knowledge of what is coming. The 
common leech is a good instance of this sensibility. 
If a leech is kept in a glass vessel partially filled 
with water, and so placed that the natural changes 
of the atmosphere have their full effect upon it, it 
invariably sinks to the bottom, and lies dormant 
there before storms, but comes to the top, and is 
active, before fine weather. 

The internal structure of animals of this class 
is often very complicated : and altogether they 
form a singular department of living nature. 

Class II. — Crustacea. The animals of this 
class are, as the name implies, covered with crusts, 
which differ in their consistency in different indi- 
viduals ; and their general characters may be stated 
in brief as follows : — Destitute of an internal ske- 
leton, but its place supplied by the crust ; the body 
variously divided, or marked into segments ; fur- 
nished with articulated legs ; breathing by means 
of gills, which are usnally seated on the base of 
the legs or the lower iaw8> wi^xX^^ ^\^^%^ ^I^NasifcL 
those legs are compoaed, o^iq^V^vng ^sacc^B^asgstf^^^ 



CRUSTACEA. 131 

plates attached to the crust at one extremity, and 
free at the other, which, however, are tendons 
rather than bones ; the head in general not very 
distinct from the chest, and furnished with two 
pairs of antennae or feelers, and a pair of mandibles, to 
which are jointed other members called palpi : four 
under jaws, and six foot jaws, the four hind ones of 
which are modified into legs in those species which 
have fourteen legs, so that ten legs is the normal 
number ; the mouth is furnished with an upper lip, 
a tongue, and under lip, which consists of the first 
pair of foot jaws ; the eyes, two in number, formed 
with facets, and placed on the top of peduncles or 
footstalks, which are often of considerable length. 
The sexes are distinct and separate individuals, and 
the young are produced from eggs. 

The Crustacea are, almost without exception, 
inhabitants of the waters; and they appear to 
occupy nearly the same place, and perform the 
same function in nature there, which the insects 
do upon the land ; though some of them are of 
much larger size than any of the land insects. 
They are aJl symmetrical animals, or consist of two 
equal and similar parts, turned opposite ways, if 
divided on a mesial plane. Their bodies are of 
various forms, some oval, some a sort of four-cor- 
nered, and some elongated. Some, as for instance, 
the common crab, are without any tail ; and others, 
as the common lobster, are largely provided with 
an organ of this kind, which folds downwards by 
numerous joints when in a state of repose, but 
which the animals can straighten with great force ; 
so that, resting the point of it, when curved^ \]j^w 
a rock, they can project themseVve^ \a ^*^ ^^*v»xl^^ 
ofnuujjr feet, as rapidly as t\iow^ iSae^ -^et^ iwa^ 

k2 



[ 



132 Wesley's philosophy. 

from a bow, and with more mierring certainty than 
if the bow were drawn by the most skilful archer. 

There is often great beauty as well as great 
power in the jointed legs of these animals ; though 
the kind of joints which they possess are not very 
well adapted for walking upon land. In those 
which have the crusts hard, the joints of the most 
efficient members are articulated with condyles and 
sockets ; and as there are necessarily two of these 
confining the motion to one plane, that motion is 
absolutely determinate, and not liable to the least 
shake or variation. In consequence of this, there 
must be as many distinct joints in the member as 
there are planes in which motion is required ; but 
as each of these is as completely determinate in its 
plane as the others, the compound motion which 
results is also determinate. One of the claws of 
a common crab is a beautiful instance of this spe- 
cies of mechanism ; and it is astonishing with what 
perfect precision a crab will seize even a very small 
object. The claw of the lobster is still more w^on- 
derful ; because the lobster can dart to a great 
distance, and aim the prehensile pincers of its claw 
against its prey with the most unerring certainty. 
Those joints with solid articulations are chiefly 
confined to the prehensile members, the others 
being in general articulated by flexible membranes. 
The way in which the legs are articulated renders 
it necessary that the progressive motion should be 
sideways, or, at all events, oblique. 

One of the most remarkable parts of the eco- 
nomy of these animals is the annual moulting, or 
casting of the shell, in the larger species, and the 
casting of it at nauch slaorter mtexN^^m 'Ocife 'svasS^sst 
Mpecies. We have a paiaWeV ease Vo. \)afe ^\«t^^^^\^ 



CASTING OFF CRUSTS. 133 

of insects, which cast their skins several timed 
before they are changed into the state of pupae. 
That these should cast their skins is not wonderftil ; 
but when we look at a crab or a lobster, and con- 
sider the strength of its shell, and the peculiar 
shape and complication of its parts, we feel rather 
astonished that it should be able to come out 'of the 
shell. We use the word shell, as familiar in com- 
mon language ; but the covering of these animals 
is not a shell, but a crust. Animals which have 
shells do not cast them ; for the shell is elaborated 
by a distinct apparatus ; and this apparatus enlarges 
the shell by additions of new matter, according as 
the increased size of the inhabitant renders this 
necessary. 

The hard crust, on the other hand, is not pro- 
duced by a distinct apparatus, but by the skin of 
the animal, which appears to become weakened as 
the crust arrives at maturity. When the animal 
has once grown to such a size as that it completely 
fills the hard crust, of course it can grow no 
more ; because there is no principle of growth in 
the crust after it has become hard ; and the mem- 
brane which produced it is then, as we have said, 
exhausted. Either, therefore, the crustaceous ani- 
mal must cease to grow in the soft parts after the 
crust has become solid, just as vertebrated animals 
with hard bones cease to grow in stature after 
those bones are once completely ossified,— either 
this, or, as an alternative, the crust must be thrown 
off; but we find crabs, lobsters, and other hard 
crusted animals of this class, of very diflijrent sizes, 
and yet with the crusts upon all equally consoli- 
dated> and we find them in the same ^We^^ ^^^ *Ccv<^ 
we must believe that the small ones exe ^q»\vsl^^^% 



134 WESLEY*8 PHILOSOPHY. 

and the large ones older ; and also that they oouM 
not have attained then* larger size without casting 
their crusts. 

At what intervals of time the different changes 
of the crust are made is another matter, and one 
on which our information is hj no means complete. 
We know that the small ones, of which the pro- 
duction is immense, and the growth very rajud, 
change their crusts as often as*' six times in not 
more than two weeks ; hut in the larger ones it is 
probable that the changes are not at any time quite 
so rapid as this, though in the first years of their 
growth, especially in the very first, it is probable 
that there are a good many changes. It is only 
analogy, but still it is true to analogy with the rest 
of nature, that, as the animal increases in age and 
bulk, the periods between the successive changes 
of the crust should increase in length ; and it is not 
improbable that a period at last arrives when the 
animal is no longer able to perform this change, 
and then, that death, which is the final lot of every 
material creature, passes upon it. We have a sort 
of collateral proof of this in the fact, that the crusts 
of large crabs are often in part covered with ser-- 
pukif balanttSy and other adhering small shells; 
while the crusts of small ones never have any of 
these upon them. It must not be supposed that 
those parasites can attach themselves to a crust of 
the same year ; for at the very time when they do 
attach themselves, the animal has no crust, but only 
a membranous covering in a very weak and flexible 
state. This is an exceedingly curious matter, but 
h is one upon which it is difficult to get the evi- 
dence of observation ; becaMse, iot ^orcafe \\\aft ^re- 
viou9 tQ the casting oi t\v^ wx^^S^s^^^^'o^^'^^ 



CASTING OTT CRUSTS. 135 

after it, the animal is in a state of concealment. 
Nor can we draw any conclusion from the &ct that, 
though small crusts only are found strewed along 
the shores, large ones are not cast ; because there 
is no question that the young Crustacea undergo 
their change near the sur£au;e, while the old ones 
do it at depths beyond the limits of observation ; 
and, as their crusts are heavier, and there is very 
little agitation of the water, at those depths, occa- 
sioned by even the severest storms, it is not easy 
to see by what means those large crusts could 
come to the shore. 

In so far as the annual moidting of the crust is 
concerned, we have some knowledge of the circum- 
stances. Towards the end of spring, the shells or 
the crustations become too small fortiieir contents ; 
and, as the animal can grow no longer, it ceases to 
feed, and becomes restless and languid. At length 
it crawls away into some close concealment ; and, 
in that concealment, the contents of the erust grt/> 
dually waste away to a very small fraction of what 
they were at the close of the season of growth. 
This wasting is so great, that the flesh in th« la^ 
claw of a lobster dwindles to a fragm^oty oU 
thicker than a quilL The other porta^ *d ^/unM;^ 
diminish at the same rate ; and the erust its«V U^ 
comes flexible, at least in some of tit* ft^iin^t. 
From this wearing away of the fl«sbf a«4 tm^tmi 
softening of the crust, the animal flods n^ ^JM^t^i^ 
in withdrawing itself; and the crust k ^*t>^if 
found with both claws and Uipi MtAm^t^ */^ 0y 
and with only those parte nt^r^r mmm^R^i^ 
connected with the living finKtMOS ^4 fU M^r^Mi, 
which, when removed^ leave a wmiAmii^ ^^y^^ 
iff fb0 crust, detached bam yu )K9iht^r¥^. *^ 



136 Wesley's philosophy. 

happens that the extremities of the articulated 
members are in whole or in part left in the cast 
crust ; but, as we shall see afterwards, the Author 
of Nature has not left these creatures without 
means of repair in the case of such casualties. The 
season at which the crust is cast is the very prime 
of the renovation of nature ; and the small animals 
which serve as food for the Crustacea are in such 
multitudes, that they literally encumber the water< 
Thus the animal which has cast the crust — we shall 
say the crab, for instance — ^has the bounty of 
Heaven brought to it without exertion on its part. 
Consequently, it waxes fat, and grows rapidly; 
and as its covering is a yielding membrane until 
it gains its full size, that size is arrived at in far 
shorter time than one would be led to suppose ; 
and, in proportion to the health and vigour of the 
animal, that size is larger than it was previously. 
In this state, crabs and other Crustacea, when they 
first leave their retirement, are very favourite food 
with many species of fishes, and on this account 
the fishermen eagerly seek after them as bait for 
their hooks. When the full size is arrived at, the 
covering begins to harden, by the depositing of 
salts of lime in the membrane. Those salts are 
partly phosphate, or earth of bone, and partly car- 
bonate, or earth of shell ; and thus the hard crust 
is intermediate between the solid parts of verte- 
brated and those of molluscous animals. When the 
crust is completely saturated with those salts of 
lime, the vigour of the animal is directed to new 
objects. First, to the restoration of the fleshy 
which has become exhausted and watery from the 
labour of consolidating the crust ; and secondly, 
the work of reproduction. This last function, we 



ADAPTATION OF RACEd. 137 

bave said, is in separate individuals. The eggs^ 
which are very numerous, are brought forward to 
a certain stage within the body of the female, some- 
thing in the same manner as the roe of fishes ; but 
the impregnation is different, being internal, and 
the eggs come forth into the world, each containing 
the germ of a perfect life. In many species, as in 
the lobster, these are hatched upon the under part 
of the female, to which they adhere by their gluti- 
nous covering; but there are others which cast 
their offspring entirely into the deep. The eggs so 
cast are in such multitudes, that the surplus of 
them, after all the casualties of the year have been 
amply replaced, serves for food to a great number 
of creatures, just as the more early productions of 
the year supplied the Crustacea with that food 
which brought them to the vigour necessary for 
the performance of this, the grand function of 
their lives. 

How beautiful is this adaptation of one race of 
creatures to another I Both are apparently de- 
stroyers, if we look at them in the single act of 
feeding ; but when we look at them in their relation 
to each other, both are preservers, and without the 
one the other would soon become exterminated. 
When each produces a surplus of its kind, beyond 
what the proper balance of the races would bear, it 
may with truth be said to sow that surplus as a 
seed, of which its young shall reap the harvest. 
Such is the extent and wisdom of design in all 
parts of creation, if we will but look upon them 
with an understanding eye. 

It does not appear that the Crustacea undergo 
any change of form, notwithstanding the repeated 
shedding of their crusts, any more than serpents do 
in the castmg of their skioa; 9Sv.4l ^ ^^ ^ea5&& 



138 Wesley's philosophy. 

applies to caterpillars, and other larvsB which re- 
peatedly cast their skins while in that staie^ it 
affords a strong presumption against the old opinion 
of Swammerdam, that the parts of those insects which 
pass through different forms, and have very different 
habits while under each, all exist in the early larva, 
and even in the egg, the early forms encasing the 
later one, something in the same way as the coats 
of an onion encase each other. It is not long since 
this was the general opinion, and it has numerous 
advocates still ; and as it was general at the time 
when this work first appeared, in a form somewhat 
different from the present, it was strenuously main- 
tained by the excellent and amiable author. But 
the doctrine is a most unphilosophical one ; and if 
one ventures to carry it as far as sound and search- 
ing analysis ought to be carried on every point of 
philosophy, it leads to absurdity, and points at 
atheism. We shall perhaps have occasion to 
revert to it ; but we have mentioned it here because 
it is a vital and dangerous error, and because the 
analogy of the Crustacea is one of the means by 
which it may be exploded. 

We noticed that if, in casting their crusts, some 
parts of the articulated members of the Crustacea 
should be broken off, the animals would not be per- 
manently maimed thereby ; and this we shall now 
briefly explain. If any of those members is broken 
off while the animal is in the living state, and has 
the crust compact, it very speedily grows again. 
The separation does not take place at the joints 
which have hard articulations ; for these can hardly 
be dislocated even after the animal has been bdled. 
Thejr take place at the meToXxt^aw^ \w!Dl\&\ and 
the joints by which the prehevis^^ ^w?^ ^x^^sssXie^ 
to the body are of this chaw^cX^x, %o ^CcoX. -^^^ laEa. 



KEPRODUCTION OF MEMBERS. 139 

be separated without any dislocation of hard parts. 
Indeed it appears that, in some species at least, they 
can be separated by apparently very simple causes ; 
for it is generally believed at least that a loud peal of 
thunder, or discharge of fire arms, will cause so 
much excitement in lobsters that the claws will jerk 
off; and it is pretty well ascertained that if by 
being seized by a more powerful individual of the 
same species, or by any other means, a claw of this 
kind should be injured in any other part of its 
length, the animal jerks it off at the articulation 
with the body, as the only means of getting it re- 
placed by another, which shall be perfect and use- 
ful. The experiment has been made under circum- 
stances that admitted of the progress being observed ; 
and the re-production of the member was found to 
be very rapid. In a day or two, a reddish tubercle 
appears, which gradually lengthens, becomes cleft 
at the extremity ; and in a very short time acquires 
the form and consistency of the other claws, though 
it is smaller in size. On the future sheddings of 
the crust, this new member grows more rapidly 
than the rest of the body ; but the experiment has 
not been continued for a sufficient length of time 
for ascertaining whether it becomes at length equal 
in size with the one which has not been broken o£^ 
Crabs, and more especially lobsters, are very fre- 
quently seen with a large claw and a small one ; 
and there is no doubt that in all these cases the 
small claw is a re-production ; and the fact of its 
occurring far more frequently in the lobster than 
in the crab, is a proof that the claws of the former 
are the more easily separated ; and this again, though 
it does not prove, gives some groimdL iot \^^^n\s^^ 
that those claws may drop off viYieu VkwxA^^ ^^ 
MiiiUeij throws the water into a tiemxiXavia «X»X»' 



. ^ .■.,^ Titer 



--.•Is _ » •• 






.,. .11*^ - 



- - •■'^ 

..■-^■-- - . 

..-■ ■"■ ■ ■ ^ters 

■Ilk ■ ■ ■ 

-• ■ ■ ■ ■ . . . .-.xiSi^- 

■ ■ 



# 



ENTOMOSTRACA, 141 

a description of one by the late Dr. Shaw, as a 
specimen of the suh-class. It is the JBranchiopoda 
stagnalis, " It is generally," says Dr. Shaw, 
'* found in such waters as are of a soft nature, and 
particularly in those shallows of rain water which 
are so frequently seen in the spring and autumn, 
and in which the Monoculus pulex of Linnaeus 
and other small animals abound. At first sight it 
bears some resemblance to the larva of a dytiscus ; 
but, when viewed closely, it is found to be of a 
much more curious and elegant appearance than 
that animal. The legs, of which there are several 
pair (eleven) on each side, are flat and filmy, and 
have the appearance of so many waving fins, of 
the most delicate structure imaginable. The whole 
animal is extremely transparent, and the general 
colour is brown, slightly tinged with bluish-green, 

" Monoculus conchaceus of Linnaeus very fre- 
quently assaults them, and adheres with such force 
to their tails and legs, as sometimes to tear off a part 
in the struggle. It delights much in sunshine, 
during which it appears near the surface of the 
water, swimming on its back, and moving in various 
directions, by the successive undulations of its 
numerous fin-like legs, and moving its tail in the 
manner of a rudder. On the least disturbance, it 
starts in the manner of a small fish, and endeavours 
to secrete itself, by diving in the soft mud. It 
changes its skin at certain periods, as is evident 
from the exuviae or sloughs being frequently found 
in the water in which these animals are kept. 

" In March or April, the females deposit their 
eggs without any settled order, and ^erfeclVj Vwsaa 
m the water. They appear to t\ie Tkak"&^ «^^ ^S«a 
rerjr mmute globules of a light \sto^XL wStfsoX' 



142 Wesley's philosophy. 

Each ovum, when magnified, closely resembles the 
farina of a mallow. It is thickly beset with spines 
on every side, and coated over with a transparent 
gelatinous substance, reaching just to the extrem- 
ities of the spines, and is most probably intended 
to assist in causing them to adhere to the sab- 
stance on which they may chance to fall, or as a 
security from the attacks of smaller animals. In 
about a fortnight or three weeks the eggs are 
hatched, and the young animals may be seen to 
swim with great liveliness, by means of three very 
long pairs of arms or rowers, which appear dis- 
proportionate to the size of the animal, and, 
indeed, it bears, in this very small state, not very 
much resemblance to the form it afterwards assumes; 
but, in the short space of a very few hours, the 
body assumes a lengthened form, and begins to 
acquire the tail fin. The eyes in this state do not 
appear pedunculated. On the seventh day after 
hatching, they approach pretty nearly the form of 
the perfect animal ; they, however, still retain the 
first two pairs of arms or rowers. The legs are at 
this period very visible. About the ninth day it 
loses the long oars, and appears still more like 
the animal in its advanced state.*' 

Another species is worthy of notice, both on 
account of its curious habits and of the illustration 
that it gives of the reason why crustaceous ani- 
mals are found in the empty shells of moUusca, 
with their own crusts in a soft state. This is the 
Diogenes crab (^Pagurtis Diogenes) vfhich'mhabits 
the shores of the Indian seas, where these are co- 
vered with vegetation, and climbs during the night, 
in order to feed upon wild it\x\\.^, «*a» \& ^^Tvfe\s^ 
various other crabs o£ tlie aaxaa ^^^a* 'V^ ^^^ 



DIOGENfiS CRAB. 143 

however, can feed upon any sort of garbage, which 
is a very general practice with the whole class. It 
is of a yellowish-brown colour, and far more active 
than the large crabs on our shores. An intelligent 
writer says, " It is very diverting to observe this 
animal when about to change its shell ; at which 
time it is seen busily parading the shore, along that 
line of pebbles and shells which is formed by the 
extremest wave ; still, however, dragging its own 
inconmiodious habitation at its tail, unwilling to 
part with one shell, even though a troublesome 
appendage, till it can find another more convenient. 
It is seen stopping at one shell, turning it, and 
passing it by; going on to another, contemplating 
that for a while, and then slipping its tail from its 
old habitation to try on the new ; this also is found 
inconvenient, and it quickly returns to its old shell 
again. In this manner it frequently changes, till 
it at last finds one, light, roomy, and commodious; to 
this it adheres, though the shell be sometimes so 
large as to hide the body of the animal, claws, and 
all. Yet it is not till after many trials, and many 
combats also, that the soldier is thus completely 
quipped ; for there is often a contest between them 
for some well-looking favourite shell, for which 
they are rivals. They endeavour both to take pos- 
session; they strike with their claws; they bite 
each other, till the weakest is obliged to give up 
the object in dispute. It is then the victor imme- 
diately takes possession, and parades in his new 
dress three or four times backward and forward upon 
the strand, before his envious antagonist." What 
is very rare among invertebrated animals^ this «^- 
cies of crab seems to be possessed o^vo\cfe\ iw '"^\^ 
said to utter a feeble cry when laid "hiAd qII> «sA^» 



144 Wesley's philosophy. 

attempt to seize the assailant with its pincers ; and if 
it once gets a hold it will suffer itself to be pulled to 
pieces rather than let go. It is a good deal sought 
after, being much esteemed as an article of food, 
when dressed by roasting it in the shell. There is 
one curious fact very generally stated with regard 
to all the Crustacea which have pincer claws, but 
we cannot vouch for the truth of it from our own 
personal experience. It is alleged that when it 
once seizes with the pincers, the joint which unites 
that claw to the body becomes so firm and rigid, 
that it cannot be broken without a very great 
effort ; but that if the opposite claw is wrenched off, 
which is easily done, the hold is immediately re- 
linguished. 

The fact that the Diogenes crab enters the shells 
only for the purpose of changing its crust, is a 
sufficient proof that all the species which are 
found in shells take possession of them for similar 
purposes. 

The common lobster (Astacus marintis) is, 
perhaps, one of the most interesting and valuable 
of the species ; and therefore a few particulars 
respecting it may be noticed. It is quite unneces- 
sary to describe an animal so well known : but we 
may remark that the male has the edges of the 
middle plates of the tail nearly straight, and the 
female or lady-lobster has them round. The 
inhabit clear and deep water upon rocky shores 
and seize their larger prey by springing upon it 
They are exceedingly voracious, consuming not onl 
a vast number of small animals, but sea weed, an 
all sorts of dead animal matter and garbage. The 
are very prolific, a smgVe ^exaaX^ Y^ck^M^sva.^ ^o? 
ten thousand to twenty tlciowsa.ii^^^'^^*^^^'^'^^' 




LOBSTERS. 145 

IThe eggs are not completely hatched while attached 
;o the body ; but that takes place very soon after 
liey are fastened to the rocks or buried in the 
;and. One of the best accounts we have of them 
s that by Mr. Travis, who studied their manners 
^ith great care, on the rocky coast near Scar- 
>orough. "Lobsters," he observes, "are found 
n great abundance, and very fine on that coast. 
Fhe larger ones are in general in their best season 
jroin the middle of October till the beginning of 
\Iay. Many of the small ones, and some of the 
SLTger sort, are good all the summer. They are 
n g'eneral from four to four inches and a half from 
*he tip of the head to the extremity of the back 
shell. Commonly the pincers of one of the lob- 
ster's large claws are ^mished with knobs, and 
Lhose of the others serrated; with the former it 
keeps firm hold of the stalks of submarine plants, 
and with the other it cuts and minces its food very 
dexterously. The knobbed or numb-claw, as the 
Gshermen sometimes call it, is sometimes on the 
right side, and sometimes on the left, indifferently. 
It is more dangerous to be seized by them with 
the cutting claw than the other, but, in either case, 
"the quickest way to get disengaged is to pluck off 
t;be creature's claw ; a new one will be produced 
in its place, though it will never attain the size of 
the former. The female or hen lobster does not 
cast her shell the same year that she deposits her 
ova, or in the commQn phrase, her berry* When 
the ova first appear under her tail, they are very 
small and extremely black, but they become in suc- 
cession almost as large as ripe elder berries before 
they are deposited, and turn oi ^ ^^xY >at^^w^ 
colour, especially towards the eui ol\vet ^'^i^'^'^ 

VOL, II. L .«• 



146 Wesley's philosophy. 

tirae. They continue fiilU depositing the ova 
in constant succession as long as the black sub- 
stance can be found in their body, which, when 
boiled, turns -of a beautiful red colour, and is then 
termed coral. Hen lobsters are found in berry all 
the rear. It is a common mistake that a berried 

m 

hen is always in perfection for the table. When 
her berries appear large and brownish, she will 
always be found exhausted, watery, and poor. 
Though the ova be cast all the year round, they 
seem only to come to life during i^^e summer 
months of July and August. Great numbers of 
them may then be found under the appearance of 
tadpolesy swimming about the little pools left by 
the tide amongst the rocks, and many also under 
the proper form, from half an inch to four inches 
in length. 

" In casting their shells, it is hard to conceive 
how the lobsters are able to draw the flesh of their 
large claws out, leaving the shell entire and 
attached to their body, in which state they are 
constantly found. The fishermen say the lobsters 
pine before casting their shell, till the flesh of their 
large claw is no thicker than a goose quill, which 
enables them to draw its parts through the joints 
and narrow passages near the trunk. The new 
shell is quite membranous at first, but hardens by 
degrees. Lobsters only grow in size while their 
shells are in soft water. They are chosen for the 
table by their being heavy in proportion to their 
size, and by the hardness of their shells on the 
sides, which, when in perfection, will not yield 
to moderate pressure. Bernacles, and other 
marine animals adhering to them, are esteemed 
indications of superior goodness. Cock lob- 



r 
• •• 



LOBSTERS. '.4' 

sters are in general better than the L«?r.$ ii. viirA^ 
they are distinguished by their nam w UlI^. tiji :•• 
having a strong spine upon the c^e^tr^ '/ «*'■!. 
the transverse processes benetti tiit '-tl. vii 
supports the four middle p!a:*^ c«? t L*: u.'.- Vri*. 
flesh of the lobsters claw is scr^ Vfiia*?: tzir. o*r; - 
cate than that of the tail. TLr S'jtrvjrju^ i.-i^ 
ermen do not take them iz. ^(f,*:* or l'**'^! i 
usual in still and deep "wat^r^ : tii*n- us*: i -^i-:**^. 
flxed to an iron hoop, aVxit tv. ', i*^. :i ^l^iiuK',*^ 
and suspended by three 2iiseb I'iie t fc'ji.*t 7':** 
bait is usuallv fish-gnr? ti*fd tv 'iiA 'yr.vr.i -*::.'. 
middle of the net. Ti*r «:i^u: tt-L*: * t • .: '.:»» 
day time, except -R-beL tLe vtvr ;^ -.i:i':i \\^ 
are most frequeEt'.y ttk**! sr: :-i2~;". -jj' »".'?: ::.<- 
it is not possible :o tiJte eiy vii^fi ::*- -% :>i i 
luminous appear^Lc*:. I:, sutl-hi*^ '.ii*. -j:^t--.— <'• 
found near the flire. siiC •:.*f:j':* :•. <-v.-: •. • 
fathoms crater : i -t ii t ::r^f tti^-; «:'' or.', .-r 
taken in less :i.»r. t-ael^e 'y f:^*r^: lu'ii-^!:*- '-.*-- 
insects, thev are n-U'-i. iir.H^ 1 1*?*- .: v-u*^: ::>.: .: 
cold weather. Ir :hr vf,»fr -.:j»-- 'j^: -,: :...•.. 
on their lee? cr ^'^i^ '.'.Sfv -, v.:.', :* -i^-^:*-?'- >c 
spring, tail fcr'^ciiivr. v. t hu'-^'r';;!? '---^..-.^ ^ 
s\^'ift a? a 'ird '--i.l f". 7':>. !:::.<-:-:<" ^. »^ 
them pas* tV/n li:!—; i*rtr. t:.'- v- ::-. ->•■* -<•. .• 
their nio:i:i:%- Kv.:':r.**: i:^; ^ •;. ^•.. -c^' -- 
When f.'ijrLveii*--. '.:i*'* v.' -r^-.;-; '.■,•' ' 
derable dinsjiiOe v. -ip?:- :. ,.- r :.^ ^.• 
what is L'.t iet* t*^';'' i.r i ::>r' - > ' -' 
throw tL*f:i.be. * »^i :::.. :-•: • ..--5^ ' >r ^ .- 
through ti *^rt:-'.* Ai'^- '.:*: -- ^ 
bodies tc pfcw. ii' . -<-.-;<:?• o^t* - ./ .* 

who €i:d»i;tvu? V. *>/.•--: ::>r.-. -a, ' ^--j^p 

frosty w*5E:jW5f :* <•.:-• sirr.-'. J -^ 



150 wesI/Ey's philosophy. 

rivers, they are seen to wind along the course of 
the stream ; but if only a -small rivulet occurs, they 
force a passage across it. The procession sets for- 
ward from the mountains with the regularity of an 
army under the guidance of an experienced general. 
They are said to be commonly divided into three 
battalions, of which the first consists of the strong- 
est and boldest males, that, like pioneers, march 
forward to clear the route and face the greatest 
dangers. They are often obliged to halt for want 
of rain, and to go into the most convenient encamp- 
ment till the weather changes. The main body of 
the army is composed of females, which never 
leave the mountains till the rain is set in for some 
time, and then descend in regular order, being 
formed in columns of fifty paces broad, and three 
miles deep, and so close, that they almost cover 
the ground. Three or four days after this, the rear 
guard follows, a straggling undisciplined troop, 
consisting of males and females, but neither so 
robust nor so vigorous as the former. The night 
is the chief time of proceeding, but if it rains by 
day, they do not fail to profit by the occasion ; and 
they continue to move forward in a slow uniform 
manner. When the sun shines and is hot upon the 
surface of the ground they halt, and wait for the 
coolness of the evening. When they are terrified, 
tiiey march backward in a confused and disorderly 
manner, holding up their nippers. They try to 
intimidate their enemies by clattering their nippers 
together, as if it were to threaten those who come 
to disturb them. Their disposition is carnivorous, 
though they most commonly subsist on vegetables: 
for, if by any accident, one s\\o\M ^<eit so maimed 
as to be incapable of pxocee^n^^ ^^ 't^'sX. Ha^ ^^ 



LAND CRAB. 151 

him and devour him on the spot, and then pur- 
sue their journey. 

'< After a march of sometimes two or perhaps 
three months in this manner, they arrive at their 
destined spot on the sea-coast, and then proceed to 
2ast their spawn. The eggs are as yet within their 
ixxlies, and not excluded and retained,as is usual with 
mimals of this kind, under the tail; for the creatures 
^ait for the benefit of the sea-water to facilitate 
:beir exclusion* For this purpose the crab has no 
i^ooner reached the shore, than it goes eagerly to 
iie edge of the water, and lets the waves wash 
3ver its body two or three times. This has been 
thought necessary by some to ripen the spawn in 
;he ovary, as the crab, appearing satisfied after a 
slig'ht bathing, immediately retires, and seeks a 
lodging on the land. After this, they say, the 
spawn grows larger, is excluded from the body, and 
idheres to the ciliations under the tail. This bunch 
is seen as big as a hen*s egg, and exactly resem- 
bling the roes of herrings. In this state of the preg- 
nancy they once more seek the shore for the last 
time; and shaking their spawn into the water, 
leave them to the chance of fortune and accident 
to bring them to maturity* At this time large 
sboals of hungry fishes are at the shore in expect- 
ation of this annual supply ; the sea to a great 
distance seems quite black with them ; and about 
t;wo-thirds of the eggs are immediately devoured 
hyy these rapacious invaders. The eggs that escape 
are hatched under the sand, and soon after millions 
at a time of those little crabs are seen quitting the 
3 lore, and slowly travelling up to the mountains. 
Hie old ones, however, are not bo syclvv^ \.o x^\srcL\ 



152 Wesley's philosophy. 

they have become so feeble and lean, that they are 
scarcely able to crawl along, and the flesh changes 
colour. The greater part of them, therefore, are 
obliged to continue in the plains and lower parts 
of the country, until they recover, making holes in 
the earth, which they cover with leaves and dirt, 
so as to exclude the light and air. In this cavity 
they throw off their old shells, which they leave 
behind them, as it were quite whole. At this time 
they are quite naked, and almost without motion 
for six days together, when they begin to grow fet, 
and are then most delicious eating. It is said they 
have under their stomachs four large white calca- 
reous stones, which gradually decrease in proportion 
as the shell hardens, and when they come to perfec- 
tion entirely disappear. Soon after this the animal is 
seen slowly making its way back, and all this is com- 
monly performed in the space of six weeks. This 
animal, when possessed of its retreats among the 
mountains, is impregnable ; for, only subsisting on 
vegetables, it seldom ventures out; and its habitation 
being in the most inaccessible places, it remains for 
the greater part of the season in perfect security. 
It is only when impelled by the desire of bringing 
forth its young, and when compelled to descend 
into the flat country, that it is taken. At that time 
the natives wait for their descent in eager expect- 
ation of their arrival, and destroy them in thou- 
sands ; but, disregarding their bodies, they only seek 
for the small spawn, which lies on each side of the 
stomach, within the shell, of about the thickness of 
a man's thumb. They are much more valuable on 
their return, after they have cast their shells ; for 
being covered with a akiu T^^ett^i\\w^ ^^i'^. ^^T<ilx- 



LAND CRAB. 153 

ment, almost every part except the stomach may 
be eaten. They are taken in their holes by feeling 
for them with an instniij^ent ; they are sought after 
by night ; when on their journeys, by flambeau 
light. The instant the animal perceives itself at- 
tacked^ it throws itself on its back, and with its 
claws pinches most dreadfully whatever it happens 
to fasten upon. But dexterous crab-catchers take 
them by their hinder legs, in such a manner that 
they cannot make any use of their nippers, and 
thus throw them into their bags. Sometimes also 
they are caught when they take refuge in the 
bottoms of holes in the rocks on the sea-side, by 
clapping a stick to the mouth of the hole, which 
prevents their getting out ; and then soon after the 
tide coming, enters the holes, and the animal is 
found, upon the water retiring, drowned in its 
retreat. 

" The crabs are of various colours : some are red- 
dish, variegated with black, some yellowish, and 
others black, inclining to blue. Those of a light 
colour are esteemed most, and when full in flesh 
are well tasted. In some of the sugar islands they 
are eaten without apprehension of danger, *and 
form no inconsiderable portion of the food of the 
poorer negroes." 

It is highly probable, indeed almost certain, that 
there are several varieties, if not distinct species 
of those very singular animals, some of which 
resort to the fresh waters, and others to the sea. 
Their system of breathing is, of course, to a cer- 
tain extent pulmonic, or of air not through the 
medium of water, because they all reside habitually 
on the land, and resort to t\ie vialeT oiA.^ W "^^ 



154 Wesley's philosophy. 

furtherance of certain parts of their economy ; and 
it is doubtful whether any of them can, under any 
circumstances, respire through the medium of 
water. Their physiology, however, is altogether 
very ill made out ; and until we have better in- 
formation respecting them, we must receive the 
published accounts with a great deal of caution. 

Though the Crustacea with which we are acquaint- 
ed are not remarkable for any of the elements of 
beauty, there are some which, in the splendour of 
their colours, rival any plants or any animals which 
are to be found in the whole range of nature. In 
the waters of Australia there is a crab, than which 
it is hardly possible to imagine any thing more 
finely coloured. The upper part is bronze, in all 
imaginable tints of colour, and much of the under part 
and the inferior surface of the legs is of the finest 
ultramarine blue that it is possible to imagine. 

The Crustacea, taking them altogether, must be 
regarded as a sort of scavengers, or consumers of 
the waste and refuse of nature ; and in this respect 
they are highly useful. The more powerful ones 
have crusts of so strong a texture that it is ex- 
tremely diflicult to do them any injury. Their 
crusts are much more durable than bone, and not 
nearly so brittle as shell ; and when we consider 
their activity, their power of endurance, and all the 
different parts of their economy, we cannot help 
regarding them as among the most extraordinary 
productions of nature. ^ 

Class III. — Arachnida, or spiders and animals 
of spider-like form. These are also a singular race ; 
and though many of them are repulsive to our com- 
mon feelings f ignorant as ^e axe q^ ^e ^e^v^^ of 



ARACHNIDA. 155 

Providence, yet still they exhibit very extraor- 
dinary displays of the wisdom and goodness of the 
all-seeing and bountiful Creator. The animals of 
this class agree in some particulars with the Crustacea, 
and in others with insects ; but they differ so much 
from both in other particulars of their structure, 
and also in their habits, that they are entitled to 
rank as a separate class. They are articulated ani- 
mals ; and the covering of the body, though seldom 
so hard as to be considered a crust, and never we 
believe containing any salts of lime, answers in 
place of a skeleton^ in the same manner as it does 
in the Crustacea. In the greater number of the 
species, the head and chest are united in a single 
piece as in Crustacea, and not separated by an arti- 
culation, as is generally the case in insects. They 
have articulated members on each side of the body ; 
the halves of which are symmetrical, if divided 
vertically on a mesial plane. Their principal 
viscera are contained in an abdomen, united 
to the posterior part of the thorax ; their mouth 
is armed with jaws, and their head is furnished 
with a variable number of simple eyes. Their 
system of circulation is carried on by a dorsal 
vessel, which propels the blood into the arteries, 
and receives it back again from the veins. Their 
system of respiration varies. The greater number 
may be considered as pulmonary, or breathing by 
means of little sacks, which answer the purpose of 
lungs. The entrance into them is by stigmata 
or breathing pores, which are situated on the under 
part of the abdomen, and of which the number 
varies ; being sometimes as many as four on each 
side, sometimes two on each side, asA v^Qrai<i^*c^\S!kK^ 
only one. All that have this mo&j^ ol tei«^\t^\^'«^ 



156 Wesley's philosophy. 

breathe the free air, and are conseqaetity inhabit- 
ants of the land. Their heart and system of cir- 
culating vessels are very complete, or at least very 
distinct, and they are all furnished with six or eight 
smooth eyes. They form a distinct order of the 
class. The others breathe by means of tubes, which 
are ramified through different parts of the body ; 
but which do not, as in insects, form two parallel 
tubes, extending the whole length, and having 
numerous stigmata or openings for receiving the 
air. Their breathing apparatus is situated at the 
base of the abdomen, and consists of two lobes, or 
in some cases more. None of the animals of this 
class are furnished with wings for flight ; but some 
of them run with great rapidity, and the nume- 
rous tribes which inhabit the waters are expert 
swimmers. 

They are in general, or indeed altogether, rather 
small animals, but they are remarkably active and 
energetic ; and though they can bear hunger for a 
great length of time, they are very voracious when 
food comes in their way. They are almost all car- 
nivorous ; and their principal office in the economy 
of nature appears to be to assist in keeping insects, 
especially winged ones, within those bounds 
which are required for the preservation of a due 
balance in the system of nature. Some of them, 
however, feed upon other substances ; but, generally 
speaking, they do so only when those substances 
are in a state of incipient decay, and would soon 
become rank and injurious. Some of those which 
have this habit are very small, and just visible to 
the naked eye ; and of these the cheese-mite is a 
familiar instance. Some oi \\vem x^^^TcAilft in their 
external figure some oiftve\x\sec\&*\\i<»\\.'i\^^^a^'^ 



SPIDERS. 157 

of their growth ; but they differ from them in under- 
going no metamorphosis, or change of appearance, 
or of habit. They moult, or cast their skins, in a 
manner similar to that of the Crustacea ; but their 
structure, in the earliest stage at which they are at 
all visible, is exactly the same as when they have 
attained their full sizo. 

The spiders, properly so called, are the most 
characteristic, and on that account, perhaps, the 
most interesting of the whole class. They are 
dishked, and lie under many vulgar prejudices ; 
but notwithstanding this, they are very important 
animals in the economy of nature, and of no incon- 
siderable service to man. The web of the com- 
mon house-spider is no doubt a little unseemly in 
places where cleanliness is neglected; but even 
there it has a double use. In the first place it 
admonishes the inattentive ; and in the second place, 
it destroys those house flies and other insects which, 
being attracted in great numbers by the dirty 
and slovenly state of the house, tend to make 
matters worse. 

There is not one of the whole spider tribe, or 
indeed of the arachnida which is seriously injurious, 
either to man or to his property. It is true that 
the scorpion stings ; that some of the larger can 
bite a little; and it is fabled, though not very 
true, that the tarantula spider bites in so singular a 
manner as to bring on a strange kind of delirium, 
and ultimately death ; the last of which can be 
averted, and the first removed, only by certain 
musical sounds. This fable evidently involves its 
own refutation ; because, if the sense of hearing 
can cure any complaint of t\ie\i\XTMLTL\wi^^> \\.\^ 
prettjr evident that it can only be a coTK^\x!X^^s!ijSG. 



158 Wesley's philosophy. 

has been brought on through the medium of the 
sense of hearing ; and upon this hypothesis, which 
is a very rational one, the hearing of the music can 
cure only a disease brought on by hearing that the 
bite of the tarantula is mortal^ and attended with 
those singular symptoms which have been said to be 
produced by it. 

The common spiders ma}^ according to their habits, 
be divided into two classes,—snaring spiders and 
hunting spiders. The one class form by threads, 
which they spin, nets of various constructions, 
which they place in situations where their prey is 
most likely to be entangled in them. Some of these 
are placed in houses, and in houses only. They 
are of pretty close texture ; and the spider erects 
for itself a den or nest, in which it lies in wait, 
until the house-fly is entangled in the net, and then 
it seizes the prey, carries it to the den, and devours 
it at its leisure. Others are placed on the ground, 
on commons and other retired places, where there 
are ground flies ; and these also construct their 
nets of a comparatively close texture, and construct 
a retreat in which they conceal themselves, until a 
fly is entangled, and then they advance and seize it, 
carry it to their retreat, and feed upon it at their 
leisure. Other species, as the common garden 
spider, place their nets in a position which is ver- 
tical, or nearly so ; have them more open in the 
meshes, and less easily seen, so that they catch 
their insect prey as it passes along on the wing. 
These last form no nest, or retreat, in which they 
themselves may reside in concealment, but remain 
quiescent, with the head do^wwards — ^the usual 
position of repose in sucla. s^vdeT^, ^xA "^t^N. ^^^ 
patience until a passing ixiseel ^eXscttXaja^^^^"^^ 



SPIDERS. 159 

net, and then they pounce upon it, finish !t on 
the net if it is of small size, or deal with it after a 
different fashion, which we shall afterwards explain, 
if it is more large and powerful. 

The whole race, however, may he said to he ani- 
mal feeders ; and it is not unworthy of remark, that 
they come into a state of activity at that very 
season when their labours are of the greatest ser- 
vice. In the early part of the season, and when 
winged insects are comparatively few, those spiders 
which weave their perpendicular webs do not make 
their appearance, because at that season the winged 
insects on which they prey are few in number ; 
unless in the state of larvaB, or caterpillars, in which 
state they are the food of those summer birds 
which annually visit our woods, and groves, and 
coppices, and gardens, and make the season so 
delightful with their songs. In this state the 
insects are not available as the food of a spider 
which stretches its web in the air ; and as most of 
the races of those insects perish in the autumn, 
and leave only their eggs deposited in appropriate 
places, to produce a new generation, spiders of the 
character of which we are speaking are not 
required, and could not find the requisite quantity 
of food. But when the summer is over and the 
birds are gone, and the larvae or caterpillars which 
supplied the birds with ample food for the year, 
are, in the portion which has been preserved, 
transformed into winged insects, the spiders come 
abroad, and are on the alert. At this time, too, 
those winged insects upon which the spiders feed, 
range about more than they do at any other season* 
The females heat about for places in 'wYvxOci ^^vc 
egg-a may be deposited with safety ; aa^ Vcl ^c« 



160 Wesley's philosophy. 

search for such places, they have occasion to beat 
about in the very situation in ^vhich those spiders 
of the late summer and the early autumn prepare 
their webs, for the very purpose of catching the 
flies. Speaking according to the doctrine of 
reason in man, there is no contrivance or purpose 
whatever on the part of the spider, any more than 
there is purpose in water falling frozen, or in the 
state of snow, when the temperature sinks below 
a certain degree. But th# Almighty Creator has 
ordained them for the performance of certain pur- 
poses ; and they, without any knowledge, as we 
estimate knowledge in rational man, act so as to 
conduce, in the highest degree, to the accomplish- 
ment of this purpose. There is something very 
beautiful in this bringing the destroyer into the 
way of those insects, at the very time when the 
destruction of their surplus is of the greatest 
advantage. At that particular season of the year, 
the destruction of one female fly may involve in it 
the destruction of a thousand or of many thousands, 
and this circumstance greatly enhances the value 
of the spider in an economical point of view. 

Besides those spiders whidi place snares for 
their prey in houses, in gardens, or in the fields, 
there are other races which do not spin any webs, 
but live upon the ground, and hunt for their prey, 
springing upon it with great rapidity, and capable 
of performing leaps far exceeding, in proportion to 
their size, those of the lion and the tiger, clearly 
showing the great superiority in point of power of 
the internal muscles above the external ones. 

Nor is it unworthy of remark that when any 
peculiarity of circumstance tevi^et^ ^ %^vder unfit 
for spinning a web, it caiit\irvi\vx»iXfit« 'Wiss^ ^^ 



^-fl 



SPIDERS. 161 

this often in the case of losing one of those legs 
which, being ^rnished with pincer claws, are essen- 
tial to their proper action on the web. There is 
this resemblance between them and the Crustacea, 
that when a leg is by any accident broken off it can 
be reproduced. We have a very interesting account 
of a spider from the late Sir Joseph Banks, to 
whose personal exertions and great liberaUty natu- 
ralists are so much indebted. As Sir Joseph was 
writing in his study, one of the web-spinning spi- 
ders, of more than the middle size, passed over 
some papers on the table, holding a fly in its 
mouth. Much surprised to see a spider of this 
description walking about with its prey, and being 
struck with somewhat unusual in its gait, he caught 
it, and placed it in a glass for examination ; and 
then, in place of eight, he perceived that it had 
but three legs, which accounted for the inability of 
the creature to spin its web ; but the curious cir- 
cumstance of its having changed its usual eco- 
nomy, and having become a hunting instead of a 
spinning spider, as well as a wish to learn whether 
its legs would be renewed, induced him to keep 
the animal in the glass, whence it could not escape, 
and to observe its conduct. 

On the following morning the animal had two 
flies given to it, when it sucked out the juices, but 
left the carcass entire. Two or three days afterwards, 
it devoured the body and head of the fly, leaving 
only the wings and legs. After this time it some- 
times sucked and sometimes eat the fly given to it. 
At first it consumed two flies in a day, but after- 
wards not more than one in two days. Its excre- 
ment which it voided, was at first of «k tdS^'^ ^\cs!va 
colour, but afterwards the white \ia^ a\iW>iL ^^^'^ 

VOL* II, jM 



162 Wesley's philosophy. 

in the centre, of a more solid appearance than the 
surrounding fluid. 

Soon after its confinement, it attempted to form 
a web on the side of the vessel, but performed the 
business very slowly and clumsily, from the want 
of the proper number of legs. In about a fortnight 
it had completed a small web, upon which it gene** 
rallv sat. 

A month after having been caught, it shed its 
skin, leaving the slough on the web. After this 
change five new legs appeared, not half so long as 
the other three legs, and of very little use to the 
animal in walking. These new members, however, 
extended themselves a little in three days, and 
became half as long as the old ones. The web 
was now increased, and the animal continued 
immoveably sitting on it in the day time, unless 
drawn from it, or attracted by a fly thrown to it as 
its usual provision. 

Twenty nine days afterwards, it again lost its 
skin, leaving the slough hanging in the web oppo- 
site to a hollow cell it had woven, so as to prevent 
it from being completely seen when lodged in it. 
The legs were now larger than before the change 
of skin, and they grew somewhat longer still in 
three or four days, but did not attain the size of 
the old legs. 

The animal now increased its web, and being 
put in a small bowl, as a more commodious resi- 
dence, soon constructed a better web than the first. 
In this state it was left on the first of November. 
No farther observations have yet been made on 
the subject 
One of the most mtereaWxi^ ol ^\^ ^xsKvsvia. wa 
is the garden spider, Epeira d\aAema> ^\as^Sa. 



SPIDERS. 163 

▼ery common in the warmer parts of England,! 
though comparatively rare in the colder parts, and 
unknown in the north of the island. It is a very 
beautifully marked spider, and often grows to a 
large size. Its web, too, is the handsomest of 
which we have any instance in this country, and 
its manners are very interesting. In addition to 
these circumstances, it has the advantage of being 
easily studied ; and it b so abundant in gardens in 
the more warm and fertile districts, that attention 
to its manners and modes of proceeding would, in 
the latter supimer and autumnal months, give 
much additional interest to a walk in the garden. 

Our garden spider is but a dwarf compared with 
some of the foreign species ; and though its web is 
very strong in comparison with that of the house 
spider, and of many other smaller species, it is a 
mere cobweb in comparison with those formed by 
some of those foreign species, in particular by 
Epeira clavipeSf or the pincer-clawed spider of 
the West Indies. The web of the last mentioned 
one is sufficiently strong for entanglmg humming- 
birds, and other small birds ; though it is exceed- 
ingly doubtful whether this, or even the larger 
species of tropical America, My gale avicularia, 
prey upon birds, even the smallest hunmiing-birds. 
Indeed, from the boldness and the pugnacious dis- 
position of those beautiful little creatures, they are 
much more likely to prey upon the mygale, than it 
is to prey upon them. 

The hooked mandibles with which the garden 
spider kills its prey are large, sharp, and powerful ; 
but still they are not able to penetrate the covering 
of even a hard- crusted fly, \m\eaa >i5:x^ ^^Y'^ct \ns6& 
time to select a Yuhierable part o? ^^ >io^^ • "^ ^ 

M 2 



164 Wesley's philosophy. 

have placed a common blue-bottle, or flesh fly, on the 
web, so that it should be entangled ; and the spider, 
if only a small one, has run off, in the same manner 
as it would do from a larger individual of itS own 
species. Those curious spiders have a singular 
delicacy of feeling ; and though ignorant persons 
have affected to ridicule the opinion, there is no 
doubt that, making allowances for poetical warmth 
of expression, this sort of spider at least 

" Lives in each thread, and feels along the line ; ** ' 

for in every case where the web is agitated by any- 
thing alighting on it and adhering, the spider in- 
stantly comes to the spot, or at all events tries 
the weight of whatever is in the web. If that 
weight is greater than its own, it retreats rather 
than advances ; for these spiders are terrible can- 
nibals, and, as the larger one is always the more 
powerful, they appear to have an instinctive feeling, 
that if anything heavier than themselves comes on 
the web, it is one of their own species, under the 
fangs of which they would certainly perish. 

When the webs are near to each other, which 
they very often are in shrubby places where there 
are many flies, it is not unusual to observe one of 
them going upon a warlike expedition against 
another. The usual position in which they repose 
is at the centre of the web, where there is a little 
platform of the fibrous substance, uniting the stays ' 
which support the spiral threads. When the enemy 
comes to one of those principal stays which sup- 
port the web, he tries it with his foot, by putting 
the one cJaw across it, and pulling, though the pull 
Is not so much as to cause aiv^ N\)crc^\\wvQ\'Ccvfe^vih 
at all perceptible to tlie WmaiL e^e» ^xA'Cjxfe ^^\\«t^ 



GARDEN SPIDER. 165 

which is stationed in the middle of the weh, feels 
and understands it perfectly. If the intruder is of 
lighter weight than the owner of the web, the 
owner darts like lightning along that stay at 
which the trial was made ; and if the intruder can- 
not make his escape in time, his hours are very 
speedily numbered. On the other hand, if the in- 
truder is weightier, he dashes toward the centre 
of the web the instant he gives the pull, and the 
owner escapes along one of the opposite stays. 
The enemy proceeds directly to the central plat- 
form, from which the owner has, generally speak- 
ing, made its escape. There he tries all the stays 
in succession, until he finds out the one at the 
extremity of which the owner of the web has taken 
up its position ; for the owner does not quit the 
extremity of at least one of the stays of its web until 
the case has become desperate; and it generally 
retreats along a stay which is for a considerable 
distance clear of the meshes of the web, and above, 
not under, the principal structure. It remains there, 
resting its weight upon the leaf, the twig, or what- 
ever else the stay is attached to; but with the 
claw of one of its fore-legs upon the stay near its 
insertion. If the wind, acting on a leaf, favour it, 
so as to add to the pressure which its claw gives, 
this will sometimes affect the enemy as if a spider 
of greater weight were posted at the end of the 
stay ; and in this case it will turn and make its 
escape, not to the central platform only, but entirely 
o£f the web, as speedily as possible. If nothing 
favours the owner of the web, the enemy advances ; 
but in the advance he takes care to leave a thread 
behind him, or rather to spin \\, aa \ie \c|^% ^^s<Ci%^ 
in order that be may make it a tcu&^u% q1 xv!a«»^ 
m the event of an " untoward 9&mr T!>ev& wtfc*t. 



166 Wesley's philosophy. 

if on a favourable stay, waits till the enemy is close 
at hand ; and just before he reaches, and when he 
is clear of all the meshes, the stay is divided by 
a sudden jerk of the claw, and the enemy and thi^ 
part of the web are tumbled down. 

If the weights are nearly equal, the owner of the 
web often stays to defend his property, and then 
comes the tug of war. The mode of fighting is, 
not by biting with the lateral fangs, but by each 
one endeavouring to choke or smother the other ; 
and with nearly equal weights, the one which has 
been best fed, and consequently contains the greatest 
proportion of that glutinous matter of which the 
threads are formed, usually obtains the victory. A 
bite or two may possibly precede the smothering ope- 
ration ; but the moment that one gets the mastery of 
the other, it suspends it by a small bit of thread, and 
suddenly applying the spinnerets successively to 
points along that part of the abdomen of the 
other, in which' the spiracles^ or breathing holes of 
that other are situated, it twirls it round with great 
dexterity, by which means a number of threads are 
wound around it so tightly as effectually to shut up 
th(^ spiracles ; and the moment that this is done, the 
oniMny is subdued. The victor goes on, however, 
until the vanquished is completely shrouded in a 
(JUHc of web ; and then it is usually borne, not to 
th(» central platform, but near the extremity of 
<me of the stays, where it is carefully fastened; 
and if the contest has been a severe one, the victor 
generally requires to rest for some time before it 
iiiakt«M a meal of the vanquished. If the sizes are 
nimvly r(|iml, the contest may be prolonged for two 
///• tUvvi^ ininiitos ; but \i l\ve^ ^x^ $LV3>Yc«^w>:\Q\i.^^^^ 
hull' n fiiiiiiihs or oven a c^viax^At o^ ^ mYDM\fc,NK^ 
•///««ti. /or doing all tliat vi^\i».^^ ^^ce^iai^ 



GARDEN SPIDER. 167 

The cannibal disposition of those spiders renders 
their love-making a matter of great caution. Like 
all the rest of the race, they are single-sexed ani- 
mals ; and to common observation the males and 
females cannot be distinguished from each other, 
imless when the latter are distended with eggs. 
There is no permanent pairing between them ; and 
in their sexual approaches they can have little or 
no assistance from sight, because their approaches 
are made during the night, or at all events in the 
twilight. The stay of the web is tried in this case, 
as well as in that formerly mentioned ; and it is sup- 
posed that the trial is always made by the male, but 
the fact neither is, nor can be, fully ascertained. 
There is, however, a difference between the trial of 
the stay as a matter of love and as a matter of war ; 
and the first trial appears to be for the purpose of 
ascertaining the sex of the owner of the web. If 
that proves to be the same as the sex of the visiter, 
the love is instantly turned to war; and it is a 
retreat, or an advance^ according to the weight of 
the parties. But if this trial answers, there is a 
mutual approach, though an exceedingly cautious 
one ; and until the pair have actually shaken hands, 
80 to express it, their suspicions of each other are 
not at an end. 

When small flies alight on the webs of these 
spiders, they are eaten on the spot, because the 
glutinous matter of the web is sufficient to keep 
them fast. If, however, a large fly is entangled} 
the crooked jaws alone are not reckoned sufficient, 
and it is suffocated in the same manner as one of 
the spiders suffocates another, by twirling round 
the body and wrapping up the sip\raA<ea\s^ ^0A& ^\ 
thread. The number of tliTeadB ^\»!c5!l ^ \«xn» 
spider can give out upon theae occaa\o\ia> «si^ ^ 



16d Wesley's philosophy. 

rapidity ivith which they are given out, are fan 
greater than one would suppose. The body of th6 
yictim is turned roimd very rapidly by the action of 
the foot, and the threads are so many that they 
have the appearance of a little riband coiling 
round the twirling carcass. 

Unless the spider is very large, it does not venture 
to attack a wasp, or even a blue-bottle ; and 
indeed the latter appears to be the less manage* 
able prey of the two. We have seen one fairly 
cased up and suspended by a spider of con- 
siderable size; and we have watched the sub- 
sequent part of the process. In doing this, we have 
heard the sound of the hooked mandibles, scraping 
against the hard covering of the ^y without beiug 
able to make any impression ; and we have con- 
tinued our observation until the spider has given 
up the matter in despair, and cut adrift the unavail- 
able prize. 

There seems to be a good deal depending upon 
the condition in which the spider is, with regard to 
quantity of the matter of thread, when large prey 
is entangled in the web ; for we have observed the 
very same spider at one time seize, wrap up, and 
devour a large fly with great eagerness ; and at 
another time cut the very same species of fly from 
the web, and let it fall to the ground. When a leaf, 
a bit of straw, or any substance of that kind is 
thrown against the web, and made to adhere, the 
spider does not advance to it with the same eager- 
ness as it does to a fly ; for it seems to have, by 
means of the motion given to the web, a knowledge 
of the difference between the mere weight of a dead 
substance and the struggVea ol «L\vsi\\i^ wvfe. Ixj. a 
very short time, however, \t sc^^xo^^es^ 'Owi «^- 
stance, f ^h. a thread to it, ^^^^ '^'^ "^^^ "^^ ^^' 



GARDEN SPIDER. 169 

and holding it aside a little by the thread, drops it 
to the ground ; after which it sets about repairing 
the injury which the web has sustained. 

The structure of the garden spider's web is very 
neat. The general form of it depends a good deal 
upon the place ; and the size depends a good deal 
upon the size of the spider. The young ones form 
very small webs in sheltered places, and content 
themselves with gnats and other little flies ; but 
the large ones will extend the principal stays of 
their webs to the length of a good many feet ; and 
they always make them strong in proportion to the 
len&fth. It is probable, that those main stays are 
forced during the night, or at least very e»ly in 
the morning ; for one can very rarely see the -spi- 
ders engaged in making them, even when they are 
most abundant. In many cases the first thread of 
them is thrown out at random. It is very Ught, 
and constructed with a flocculent and glutinous ex* 
tremity, by means of which it adheres to whatever 
it touches ; and its lightness carries it in a hori- 
zontal direction.- There are situations, however, in 
which accident could not carry the stays "to the 
places to which they are affixed ; and, in those cases, 
the spider must cling to the points to which they 
are fastened, and carry the end of the thread along 
with it; but by what means he discovers these 
points it is impossible to ascertain, for there is no 
reason to believe that the vision of those spiders 
reaches to any considerable distance. As the 
strength of those stays, or main threads, is always 
in proportion to the length, there is no doubt that 
they are made by sucessive applications of addi- 
tional threads to the first one ; audi ^\ieTL ^Ock^ y^" 
cipaJ stajrs are once &steiied, tide ^xom^ ^^^^"^ 



170 Wesley's philosophy. 

considerable ingeouity in choosing tbat particular 
space within for the web, which is most in the way 
of the flies. The web is, for instance, never placed 
close against a dead wall, but always where there 
is a current of air, and generally in those places 
where flies are most frequently seen passing to and 
fro. This is, of course, a matter of pure instinct, 
although it is done with far more certainty than we 
could do it by the assistance of our faculties of 
reasoning and judgment. We must not wonder at 
this, however ; for all instincts are direct and imme- 
diate operations or obediences of laws which God 
has appointed ; and, therefore, they cannot but be 
far more perfect and unerring than any thing which 
depends on the feeble and limited judgment of 
human beings; and we may find in those same 
spiders, humble as they are, and little as we heed 
them, demonstrations of Almighty power, and 
lessons of practical wisdom, which would be highly 
useful to us if we would but study them aright. 

The threads of which the webs of these spiders 
are constructed are very elastic, and can be 
stretched out, and contracted, which renders them 
much less liable to be injured by the wind, 
than they otherwise would be. When one can get 
the solar light upon them, in the proper direction, 
they exhibit a very beautiful play of prismatic 
colours ; and there is little doubt that they are 
electric. They are not liable to be injured by rain, 
though the water collects upon them in dew-drops, 
which often have a very beautiful appearance. The 
webs remain in autumn and early winter, long after 
the spiders are gone. In hoar frost they are finely 
/ringed with specula oi \ce;axi^^\v^TL'Oafe^<e^-drQijs 
are frozen on them, aad \]^e lto^\. ^OT^^i^xss«^s., "(fess^ 



COMMON SPIDER. 171 

have all the beauty of little strings and festoons of 
pearls ornamenting the plants. Such are a few 
particulars respecting the common garden spider, 
one of the most interesting species which is foimd 
in this country ; and we shall add a few more re- 
specting the house spider. 

Amazing wisdom is displayed in the make of 
the common spider. She has six teats, «ach fur- 
nished with innumerable holes. The tip of each 
teat is divided into numberless little prominences, 
which serve to keep the threads apart at their first 
exit, till they are hardened by the air. In every teat, 
threads may come out at above a thousand holes ; 
but they are formed at a considerable distance, 
each of them having a little sheath, in which it is 
brought to the hole. In the belly are two little 
soft bodies, which are the first source of the silk. 
In shape and transparency they resemble glass 
beads, and the tip of each goes vrinding toward the 
teat. From the root of each bead proceeds another 
branch much thicker, which also winds towards the 
same part. In these beads and their branches is 
contained the matter of which the silk is formed, 
the body of the bead being a kind of reservoir ; the 
two branching canals* proceeding from it. 

It was before observed, that the tip of each teat 
may give passage to above a thousand threads ; 
and yet the size of the teat in the largest spider 
does not exceed a small pin's head. But the 
smallest spiders no sooner quit their eggs than 
they begin to spin. Indeed, their threads can scarce 
be perceived, but the web formed thereof is as thick 
and close as any. And no wonder, as four or five 
hnndred little spiders often concvxi m ^^ ^"ssaa 
work. How minute are tViea \.^»X»\ N^Xifc^^x- 



172 Wesley's philosophy. 

haps the whole spider is less than the teat of its 
parent. Each parent lays four or five hundred 
eggs, all wrapt up in a bag ; and as soon as the 
young ones have broken through the bag, they 
begin to spin. 

And even this is not the utmost which nature 
does. There are some kinds of spiders so small 
as not to be discerned without a microscope ; and 
yet there are webs found under them I What must 
be the fineness of these threads ? To one of these 
the finest hair is as a cart rope. 

There are several species of spiders that fly, and 
that to a surprising height. " The last October," 
says an eminent writer, <' I took notice that the air 
was very full of webs. I forthwith mounted to 
the top of the highest steeple on the Minster [in 
York] , and could thence discern them yet exceed- 
ing high above me. Some of the spiders that fell 
upon the pinnacles I took, and found them to be 
of a kind which seldom or never enter houses, and 
cannot be supposed to have taken their flight from 
the steeple." 

There are divers animals, as well as spiders, that 
have some way of conveyance, utterly unknown to 
us : thus, the animals on the standing waters, so 
numerous as often to discolour them, and tinge 
them red, yellow, or green. That these have some 
way of conveyance is certain, because not only 
most stagnating waters are stocked with them, 
yea, not only new pits and ponds, but even holes, 
and gutters on the tops of houses, churches, and 
steeples. That they have not legs for travelling 
BO far is manifest ; it is therefore probable, either 
that they dart out weba, axi^ c».w \xi?>k^ NJftKo^&elves 
buojrant and lighter tViati >i)ti^ ^^x \ ore \W\. •siwsa. 



COMMON SPIDER. 173 

bodies are naturally lighter than air, and so they 
can swim from place to place. It is highly pro- 
bable, that the eggs of such as are oviparous may 
be light enough to float therein. 

To trace this matter farther : every one must 
have observed threads floating in the air ; but few 
consider what end they serve. They are the works 
of spiders. Their usual method is, to let down a 
thread, and then draw it after them. But in the 
midst of this work they sometimes desist; and 
turning their tail according to the wind, emit a 
thread with as great a violence as a jet of water dis- 
charged from a cock. Thus they continue darting 
it out, which the wind carries forward, till it is* 
many yards long. Soon after the spider throws 
herself off from her web, and trusting herself to 
the air, with this long tail, will ascend swiftly, and 
to a great height, with it. These lines, which the 
spiders attach to them (though unobserved), make 
these air-threads that waft them along the air, and 
enable them to prey on many insects which they 
could not reach by any other means. 

All spiders that spin, young as well as old, cast 
out these threads, and sail thereby in the air. And 
the threads themselves show the use thereof, being 
usually hung with the fragments of devoured 
animals. 

When the threads are newly spun, they are 
always single, and are generally seen ascending 
higher and higher. But when they are seen 
coming down, they are sometimes composed of 
three or four, and either without any spider or with 
several. It is plain this happens from the threads 
meeting and entangling in live air, 'v\i\OcL ^^ ^^>a^^ 
briogs them down. 



174 Wesley's philosophy. 

It is common to see a spider mount to the to^ 
most branch of a bush, and from thence dart out 
several threads one after another, trying, as it 
were^ how she likes them. When she has darted 
one several yards, she will of a sudden draw it up 
again, and wind it into a link with her fore-feet, 
but more frequently break it off, and let it go. A 
spider will sometimes dart out and break off many 
threads before it spins one that it will trust to. 
But at length she spins one to her liking, and 
commits herself to the air upon it. 

The business of feeding is not all the use of 
these threads ; but they evidently sport and enter- 
tain themselves by means of them ; floating to and 
fro in the air, and changing their height at pleasure. 

These air-threads are not only found in autumn, 
but even in the depth of winter. The serene days 
at Christmas bring out many ; but they are only 
short and slender, being the work of young spi- 
ders hatched in autumn^ and are thrown out, as it 
seems, only in sport. The thicker ones of autumn 
are the only ones intended to support the old 
spiders, when there is plenty of small flies in 
the air, which make it worth their while to sail 
among them. 

Another species of spider, very common in the 
warmer parts of this country, and very interesting 
in consequence of the singularity of its habitation, 
is the water spider, {Argyroneta aquatica). It 
inhabits slow-running fresh waters, but not such 
as stagnate and are liable to become putrid ; and 
in such waters, in the vicinity of London especially, 
Its nest may be seen at any time during the sum- 
mer^ and it is a very beauliJvA o\i\ec\.. \\. va» ^ VA.\Xa 
sack or neat, composed oi mes^ift^ ol ^^^ ^to^^> ^\ 



WATER SPID£R« 175 

the same consistency as an ordinary spider's web, 
with the threads rather close, but not in absolute 
contact with each other. Those threads are of 
such a nature that they strongly repel the water, 
and the interior is filled with air, so that the spider, 
which breathes air and not water, lives in it some- 
thing after the same fashion in which men live 
under water in a diving bell — an engine now very 
usefully employed in building the walls of harbours, 
the piers of bridges, and the foundations of other 
structures which have to be laid in the water, and 
which could not be so easily or so well made with- 
out the assistance of the bell. 

The spider, however, has many advantages over 
man in its bell ; for the bell in which man works 
must be solid, so as to exclude the water ; whereas 
that of the spider has a sufficiently repellant power 
for preventing the water from entering the threads ; 
and thus the inhabitant enjoys nearly as much 
light as it would enjoy if it were on the land. 
The supply of air, which requires to be constantly 
kept up, is a curious part in the economy of the crea- 
ture ; and it is not a little remarkable that it seems to 
be brought about by the very same power which ex- 
cludes the water from the nest. This spider does not 
come up to the surface every time that it requires 
to breathe, as is the case with most air-breathing 
animals which inhabit and find their food under the 
water ; it comes to the sur£su:e, elevates its abdo- 
men, and discharges a little portion of the repellant 
fluid of which its nest is formed. This repellant 
force causes the water to retire from the under part 
of the abdomen, and the air of course occupies its 
place, 8o that when the spider desc^^xA^^W. ^:»xtn«^ 
with it a bubble of air ; and in lYua ^n^^ \\.^i^*^^ 



176 Wesley's philosophy. 

nest at the beginniDg, and keeps up a sopplj 
the air which is there is deprived of its oxygen, 
thereby rendered unfit for the purpose of respirati 
The nest is attached to some aquatic plants, 
sometimes to a stone. It is of an oval or hemisp 
rical shape, and the opening is on the under 
In constructing the nest, it is begun at the 



and, as the spider works downward, it fete 
from the surface a sufficient quantity of air to i 
the portion which it has constructed. How -tl 
nitrogen of the air, which is lighter than oxj^ ^lei 
and also than the air in its entire state, is remo^et/ 
from the rest, it is not easy to say, for the whoiS? 
economy of the animal is beyond our chemistry ; bat 
that it has some power of this kind cannot he 
doubted ; and as the substance of the nest bv which 
the water is repelled is simply a material substance 
not possessed of any life, it would be well worth 
while, if possible, to analyze it, and see of what 
substance it is composed ; because the discovery of 
a repellant substance under water would be a very 
useful one in the arts. 

This spider is an insect feeder, as well as other 
spiders ; but it belongs rather to the class of hunt- 
ing spiders than to that of snaring ones. It issues 
from its nest in search of water insects, carr}ing 
under its abdomen a bubble of air for the purpose 
of respiration ; and in this way it contrives not 
only to find its own food, but to accumulate a store 
for its yoimg, which serves them until they are able 
to follow its example, and provide for themselves. 
It incloses its eggs in a little silken bag, within the 

t, and lodges beside them a number of water 
s and larvae ; and lYkcvi \\,?» \^^\. \a!^^Ms is 
'. up the aperture oi xXi^ xkft^V^, ^^^ ^\^^'^ 



-^ 



ACARI. 177 

*esigns itself to the common fate of all animated 
beings, at least such is the account given of the 
termination of its labours* Under water, the nest 
lias a very handsome appearance ; because the sides 
of the space containing the air reflect light of a 
bright silvery or pearly appearance. Their colour 
is blackish brown, with four black spots on the 
back, and an oblong spot of larger size in the 
middle of them. The male differs a little from the 
female. It has the abdomen considerably elongated, 
and curved at the extremity; the feet also are 
longer, and the size is rather larger than that of 
the female. 

Another very singular section of this class of in- 
vertebrated animals ai^ the Acari, or mites, which 
are of very small dimensions, but very numerous, 
and in some instances not a little annoying. One is 
the common cheese-mite, (A. domesticusi) fsmiiliar 
to every one. These inhabit houses, feeding upon 
cheese^ and also on the farina of vegetables, but never 
till these have been long kept, which seems to be 
the state favourable for hatclung the eggs of these 
curious little creatures. To the naked eye they 
appear to be nothing else than particles of the sub- 
stance in which they are generated, in a state of 
motion; but when a microscope of considerable 
power is applied to them, they are seen to be ani- 
mals very perfectly formed, with small heads in 
proportion to the size of their bodies, claws at the 
extremities of their legs, and reflected hair on the 
surface of their bodies. By means of their claws, 
they can adhere very firmly to those substances 
which they inhabit ; while their small size.) and the 
hairs on their bodies, enable tliem \a th^^ '^^ 
way tbrougb very minute opemog^. 

VOL. lU K 



^. 



178 W£SLEY*S PHILOSOPHY. 

They are oviparous ; and the eggs, which are 
very numerous, are of so very small a size that the 
shell of a pigeon's egg would hold as many of them 
as there are human heings in Europe. The hatch- 
ing of those eggs is left entirely to the action of 
the weather ; and the time necessary for hringing 
them to maturity varies greatly with the tempera- 
ture. In summer it takes rather less than two 
weeks ; but it lasts much longer in winter ; and 
when the temperature is very low, they are not 
hatched at all, though it does not appear that they 
are destroyed even by the severest cold. From 
their minute size, they are found in almost every 
place, on the bodies of animals, on plants, and on 
every kind of substance, though of course it is 
only upon substances, and in circumstances suited 
to their nature, that they make their appearance in 
the living state. A certain degree of putrefaction, 
and that chiefly of animal matter, appears to be 
that which is most favourable for them. We may 
thus view them as formed to remove corrupt 
matter from situations to which larger animals 
could not find access ; and thus, small as they are, 
they are not without their use in the great system 
of nature, nor is the display of created power in 
them less wonderful, and less worthy of admiration, 
than it is in the elephant or the whale. 

There are many species of them besides the com- 
mon cheese-mite, and some of these are very 
troublesome to the larger animals, while others 
render diseases, which are loathsome enough in 
themselves, still more loathsome. The itch, which 
h but too common where living is poor and clean- 
jaess neglected, is always a.\.levAe^\i^ ^ "s^^^vKa. of 
rw/ and there liave \>ee;u ^om^ m'sXaxiRRa. ^ 



ACARI. 179 

these minute creatures breeding in the skin of all 
parts of the human body, and slowly consuming 
the flesh off the bones, thus subjecting the sufferer 
to death in the most dreadful form that the mind 
can picture to itself. 

It is not to be understood that those little para- 
sites are the originators of the disease ; but their 
appearance shows that there is a diseased state of 
the body which favours the hatching of their eggs, 
of which there is of course a number previously ex- 
isting on the skin ; and when once these eggs have 
become quickened, the colony rapidly increases; and, 
by the irritation which they occasion, spread and 
prolong the disease, and very probably assist in the 
communication of it by infection. Even in these 
cases, however, and the yet more horrible ones 
which are occasioned by true insects, there is still 
goodness apparent, notwithstanding the miserable 
condition of the sufferers — there cannot be a more 
forcible inducement to cleanliness, than the danger 
of its neglect bringing on such fearful calamities 
as those which we have mentioned ; and though the 
subject is an obscure one, it is highly probable that 
the more grievous of these calamities have always 
been brought on the unhappy suflferers by some 
misconduct of their own. 

Indeed, it seems that these creatures, small as 
they are, are appointed, in some one or other of 
their species, to watch over every living creature ; 
for, in one or other of their own numerous varie- 
ties, they are met with upon all, from the elephant 
down to bees and beetles, until the size is so minute 
that the animal on which they live is barely visible. 
The ea^le, in her pride of Sight, \a ncA. e^eo^^Kfe^ 
&om tbem, and the powerful Tfea^oxi'^ ^VOa.^"^^ 

N 2 



180 Wesley's philosophy. 

the lion is armed, are no defence against those small 
foes. To many of our beetles they are parti- 
cularly tormenting ; and one may often see some of 
the larger ones, with all the under parts of the body 
and all the joints, covered over with these little 
tormentors, so that the beetle is unable to walk, 
but lies writhing apparently m the greatest agony. 
Bees, especially the larger humble bee, are very 
subject to their attacks ; and a curious part of the 
instinct of this kind of bee was observed by a col- 
lector of insects. He had sat down on a bank 
to rest and refresh himself; and very shortly he 
observed a humble bee alight near him, and begin 
to beat and scratch with its feet, and make a buzzing 
sound with its wings. It had alighted on an ant- 
hill ; but as the sun was under a cloud, the ants 
were not abroad. Ants are, however, very watchful 
creatures, and instantly come forth to attack any 
one who attempts to batter their strong hold. The 
disturbance produced by the humble bee imme- 
diately brought them out in numbers around it 
The observer watched them, and found that the 
bee was perfectly loaded with acariy which the ants 
set upon, and devoured on the spot, or carried to 
the interior of their hill. As this operation went 
on, the bee gradually became more tranquil, and 
apparently much more at its ease ; and after a little 
time it rose on buoyant wing and flew off, humming 
its song of gratitude to its singular deliverers. 

This is a very remarkable case of instinct — as 

much so, perhaps, as any which is to be met with 

among the most perfectly developed of the ver- 

tebrated animals. One can hardly imagine that 

the bee would have a\\g\i\.e^ oxL\)[v^«xA.-\^\llif it had 

Dot bad some instinctive ^^exce^VAOtv ^l x^^\\ft\ft. 



SCORPION. 181 

obtained there. This is rendered still more pro- 
bable by the fact of the bee performing that kind of 
operation which was sure to call out the ants, and 
also by its submitting to their running about and 
upon it, and clearing away its tormentors. The 
common garden-ants may be often seen performing 
similar operations to beetles — ^to the common dung- 
beetle in the early part of the season ; and to the 
golden-green beetle when the season is further 
advanced. 

Most of those parasites adhere by means of their 
claws, and make their attacks by the mouth ; but 
there are some of them which appear to draw their 
nourishment by means of a little tube or stalk at 
the opposite extremity of their bodies. Thua 
appearing as if they were rooted in the animal on 
which they feed ; and when this is the case, they 
are very often found adhering to each other. Alto- 
gether they are a very singular section of ani- 
mated nature ; and their vast numbers so far make 
up for their diminutive size, as to enable them to 
perform no unimportant part in the grand system 
of the living world. 

The only animal of this class which our limits 
will permit us to notice is the Scorpion, which has 
long been notorious for its venomous quality, 
though the reality does not nearly come up to the 
written accounts. As it exists in the warmer parts 
of Europe — for it is not found in the temperate or 
the cold — ^the sting of the scorpion is not mortal, 
or, generally speaking, very dangerous; but we 
believe that some of Uie tropical species are more 
serious ; these, however, differ from the European 
BcoTpion in some parts of their oi^^;axazA.>C\cscL. ^\>QaN> 
spedes is about an inch in AengOoL) m^^^^s«^ 



182 wbsley's philosophy. 

of a deep blackish brown, and the tafl, wlneh it 
yellowish brown, not quite so loiag as the body. 
The feet are yellowish. The pineer daws are 
really the palpi : and, considering the ^timinulm 
size of the animal, they are very formidable 
prehensile weapons. The last joint of the taQ is 
also armed with an envenomed sting, the poison d 
which, though not, as we have said, mortal^ or very 
dangerous, causes a great deal of pain. The tail 
consists of six annuli, or joints, the last of which 
carries the sting. The abdomen is closely imited 
to the thorax, and furnished with four breailmig 
holes on each side. It is furnished with rix eyes; 
and the pineer palpi, which are never used as feet 
in walking, are large in proportion to the iame feet. 
One very remarkable character of all the scorpion 
family is, that the organs of re-producdon are 
double in both sexes, so that, in this respect, each 
one, though of one sex only, is a sort of two 
animals, while in every other respect it is only 
one. 

The scorpion is a very strong and formidable- 
looking creature in proportion to its size. The 
covering of its body is firm, and all its muscles lie 
straight between their points of insertion, so that 
they have the maximum e£fect in proportion to their 
quantity of matter. When it moves about, its 
attitude is peculiar ; the prehensile palpi are car- 
ried advanced and elevated, with the pincers open ; 
and the tail is bent forwards over the back, tuitil 
the joint carrying the sting is as far forward as the 
head. Its motion is rather rapid; and it deals 
destruction to a number of small animals which 
Inhabit the ground. It is xioV. ^woA \a ^^ x^A^hiP^ 
mard of the forty-fourfti degro» o^^»3i^teA»% ^b^V^ 



INSECTS. 183 

is most abundant among rubbish, and about ruins 
in dry places. 

There are few animals of which the history has 
been more mixed up with fable than this one ; for 
it is very generally taken as a sort of type of mis- 
chief. No doubt it is mischievous enough for its size 
and strength, and Its strength is great in proportion 
to its size ; but there is nothing about it to entitle 
it to rank as a formidable animal. As little is 
there any truth in the alleged story of its killing 
itself by the puncture of its own sting, when sur- 
rounded by fire ; though it no doubt, under such 
circumstances, naturally throws its body and tail 
into that posture which it uses both for attack and 
for defence. 

Class IV. — Insects. Numerous as are some 
of the other classes of invertebrated animals, the 
insects, properly so called, are perhaps the most 
numerous of the whole. At all events they are 
the ones that are most open to our observation ; 
and in many respects their economy is far more 
curious than that of any of the others. Their 
modes of action are more varied than the others ; 
and they inhabit all countries, and almost every 
place in all countries. Many are in the waters ; 
not a few are under ground, or at least in conceal- 
ment, and never visit the light of day. There is 
hardly a plant which is without its insect inhabit- 
ant ; every plant has often its peculiar species, and 
not only so, but a distinct species often inhabits 
every different part of the plant ; as for instance, 
in a fruit tree, there may be one kind which gnaws 
the bud, another which destroys the blossom, a 
third which bores into the yrood,^ ioxo^^^^ 
Attacks the roots, and a fifth ^\x\c\iY^e^%'V)^'^^^'^^ 



\ 



164 WESLEY*S PHILOSOPHY. 

fruit ; and each of these may be confined to that one 
species of tree, and never found on any other. 

With the exception of a few genera, which con- 
sist of a great number of rings, and have feet 
equally numerous, insects in their mature or perfect 
state are made up of three distinct parts : the head, 
which carries the antennae, or feelers, as they are 
sometimes called, and also the eyes and the mouth ; 
the thorax, or corslet, to which the feet are at- 
tached, and also the wings in all those species which 
are furnished with these appendages ; and the ab- 
domen, which is attached to the hind part of the 
thorax, often by a very slender peduncle, and con- 
tains the principal viscera. 

Winged insects do not receive their wings till a 
certain stage of their existence ; and those which 
are without wings also pass through some changes 
of form or of covering before they arrive at matu- 
rity. All insects, without exception, are produced 
from eggs ; and the females evince many singular 
instincts in placing those eggs in favourable situa- 
tions ; and not a few of them are furnished with 
very curious apparatus, by the help of which this 
operation is performed. There are also other races 
in which the utmost solicitude is shown in taking 
care of the eggs, and nursing and feeding the 
young ; and it is not unworthy of remark, that, 
in many which have this habit, the nursing is per- 
formed by undeveloped females, or by individuals 
which are, strictly speaking, of no sex whatever, 
while the real mothers of these nurslings pay them 
no attention. 

Before, however, we enter further into the eco- 
nomjr of these animals, Vl taa.^ \i^ \i^^«8isax^ to 
explain, at a little greatet \eT\^\i, VJs^^ ^^^x^^acv^^^ 



INSECTS. 185 

of their structure ; because this is essentially ne- 
cessary to the ready understanding of the other. 

The proper division then, as affording characters, 
is into a head, a body, and members. The func- 
tions of the head, or the parts which it carries, have 
been already noticed. The head is variously arti- . 
culated on the trunk, but always by one or more 
tubercles of the head, which move in corresponding 
cavities of the trunk. There are some instances, 
however, in which the connexion is formed by the 
application of one flat surface to another, and in 
this the joint admits of very little motion. In other 
articulations, there are two tubercles placed late- . 
rally ; and this articulation admits of the head being 
raised and depressed, but not of any motion from 
side to side. The third form is a single tubercle ; 
and this admits of more varied motion. These 
articulations are all in the crust, or external cover- 
ing, and in the upper part of it, so that the occi- 
putal foramen, or hole, is not interrupted by the 
motion of the joint. The muscles, by which this 
joint is put in motion, are inserted on the inside of 
the covering of the head, and have their other ex- 
tremity in the opposite side of the trunk, so that 
they cross each other internally. The largest ones 
are those which depress the head ; and they are 
inserted in the upper part of the head and lower 
part of the trunk : those which elevate the head are 
inserted the opposite way ; and those which move 
the head laterally, are inserted in the side of the 
trunk to which the head is moved, and in the op- 
posite side of the head. This arrangement gives the 
muscle the utmost advantage which it can possess ; 
and we may remark once for aW, \3[^t ^<^ xs^kj^^^"^ 
which, give motion to any joVat m ^xl \sa<^&^ ^s^^ '^ 



186 Wesley's philosophy. 

arranged in a similar manner, so that there is no 
need for loading the working structure with tendons 
or ligaments, neither is there any waste of power 
hy hringing tendons over joints, or through pullies, 
as is often necessary in the external muscles of 
vertehrated animals. An insect is thus a far more 
perfect specimen of mechanical construction, in so 
far as the proportion of effect to power is concerned, 
than the vertehrated animal, and this is the reason 
why insects can he almost incessantly in motion 
without appearing to he in the least fatigued. The 
strength of an insect is proportional to the power 
of its muscles, and the firmness of the covering in 
which those muscles are inserted, taken jointly. 

The head may he considered as forming one 
ring, and the trunk as heing composed of the first 
and second ; the second only is the thorax, and the 
third the breast, but these two are often so closely 
united as to appear but one piece. On its under 
side, the thorax bears the fore, or first pair of legs, 
and between their insertions there is generally a 
keel, or sternal elevation, often terminating behind 
in a spinous process. This part of the body may be 
considered as the general fulcrum, or fixed part, upon 
which all the motions of the body are produced, — 
those of the head anterior of it, and those of the 
breast and abdomen posterior of it ; so that when 
the body admits of much motion, it is moved upon 
the thorax ; and the thorax is the portion to which 
the first pair of legs are attached, so that those 
legs are the true supports for rest, and they may 
remain at rest, and afford a steady fulcrum to a 
great number of motions in all the other parts. 
The breast is not aWa^s c\o%^^ xmxX,^^ \.^^\Nft 
, thorax, but often appears to \ie moT^ \m\si^^\^\j^^ 



INSECTS. 187 

joined ^itb the abdomen. On the under part it 
has the middle and hind pairs of legs inserted on 
it ; and the wings, in such as have wings, on the 
upper part ; so that when an insect floats or hovers 
on the wing, it has complete command of the head, 
thorax, and fore legs, as well as of the abdomen ; 
and thus it can use these, or any of them, for such 
offices as may be requisite, while the wings buoy it 
up, or enable it to shift from place to place. This 
double trunk, one carrying the head and fore legs, 
and the other the remaining legs and the wings, is 
necessary in order to give proper action to animals 
which have not flexible spinal columns ; and though 
it does not admit of so perfect and numerous mo- 
tions as spines of the mammalia, it is far superior 
in the case of animals which are to have equal 
use of their wings and feet, than the half-flexible 
spine in birds ; which latter, if their habit be chiefly 
confined to running, as it is in the ostrich family, 
have very imperfect wings ; or if it is chiefly con- 
fined to flight, as in the swallow tribe, the feet are 
very inefficient for walking. The winged insect 
has more incessant and varied labours to perform 
than either the running or flying birds, and this 
double structure of the trunk adapts it admirably 
for both. 

The abdomen consists of a variable number of 
rings, which are united in some species by a sim- 
ple adhesion of the margins ; and in other cases 
the posterior margin of each overlays the anterior 
margin of the one behind it. When the unions 
are of this structure, there is generally some mo- 
tion in the different rings, produced by muscles 
inserted in the two adjoining one^ \ \)\>X> '^V's^ ^^ 
abdomen is closely mdted to tW\st%«jaX> ^<st^^^ 



190 Wesley's philosophy. 

We are acquainted with no animal of sufficient size 
for being easily examined, which possesses articu- 
hited legs and suckers ; and when a sucker is 
made use of in motion, as it is in the case of the 
leech tribe, it is always used for holding on until 
the body is advanced from it, if it is the hinder 
sucker, or drawn towards it if it is the fore one. 
It appears, too, that these insects whose habit it is 
to walk upon substances against which, from 
their flocculent nature, a vacuum could not be 
produced, and a sucker could not operate, can 
move in all directions with as much facility as 
those which move on the most solid substances. 
Indeed, the observation is against the use of the 
sucker altogether, for in proportion as the surface 
is smooth, and better adapted for the application of 
a sucker, it is less fitted for the feet of an insect ; 
and thus glass traps are made use of for catching 
many species of insects. It is probable that the 
adhesion is generally, if not always, made by 
means of the claw. This claw is sometimes double, 
and sometimes single, but acting against a tubercle ; 
as we find to be the case in various climbing mam- 
malia, which have not thumbs against which the 
fingers can act. From the way in which the feet 
of an insect are spread out, it is highly probable 
that the claw of one foot acts against that of 
the opposite foot ; and the way in which the joints 
of the feet are bent, gives reason to believe that 
this is the case. 

The other members of insects are wings, of 
which there are many varieties ; and as these are 
very conspicuous parts, they are selected as the 
characters according to which the animals are 
classed. A single class are without any wings, 



INSECTS. 191 

either on the males or on the females, at any one 
stage of their existence ; and these are called apte^ 
rous insects, which simply means that they are 
" without wings." 

Another class have two wings, one of course on 
each side of the body ; and articulated to the upper 
or dorsal part of the breast, or third ring, as has 
been already said. These are called dipterous 
insects, which simply means that they are insects 
having "two wings." In most of these dipterous 
insects there are lateral appendages, one on each 
side, under or Jbehind the rings ; these appendages 
consist of a little stalk, with a small knob on the 
end of it. They have been termed halteres, or 
" poisers ;" but what purpose they answer is not 
very clearly known. It is probable, however, that 
they are in some way or other connected with the 
action of the wings, from their close juxta-position 
with these organs. They are not confined to 
dipterous insects ; for they occur in some of the 
four-winged ones, such as the plunger, water-beetle, 
(Dt/Hscus marginalis) ; but we believe they are 
found only upon a few of the coleopterous insects, 
or those which have their wings of flight covered 
with hard cases, or elytra, when they are in a state 
of repose ; so that in these also, they may serve as 
balances, and assist the animals in ascending or 
descending, when they are on the wing. 

By far the greater number of insects are, how- 
ever, possessed of four wings, all adapted for flight. 
Those wings are very various in their texture and 
appearance, so that they afford a foundation for 
dividing winged insects into classes, and the habits 
of the insects agree tolerably well with this ground 
of arrangement. The wings for flight are capable 




192 Wesley's philosophy. 

of exceedingly rapid motion ; and it should seem 
that the two wings on each side supply the place of 
the successive articulations, and the twisting motions 
possessed by the wings of birds, and also give those 
directions upwards or downwards for which the tails 
of birds are more especially fitted. In the wing 
of an insect there is no apparent joint useful in 
flight, except the one by which the wing is attached 
to the breast. In those which do not fold the 
wings when in a state of rest, the wing may he 
considered as partaking more of the character of 
a single feather than of that of a bird's wing ; and 
when the wings are folded up, as they are in most 
of the species which have elytra, the wing^ them- 
selves are simple membranes, extended on a frame- 
work of elastic fibres, which are most incorrectly 
called nerves : there is fully as much resemblance 
to the flying membranes of bats, as to the wings 
of birds. Elytra never have any motion at all cal- 
culated for assisting in flight, they merely admit of 
being opened and shut ; and there is every reason 
to believe that their principal use is the protection 
of the wings from external injuries ; for the species 
which have them strongest, are those which burrow 
in the ground, or are otherwise exposed to frequent 
contact with rough and hard substances. 

In the senses of sight and of touch, it is under- 
stood that insects are much more acute than 
Crustacea; but that they possess other localized 
senses is not very well made out ; neither is it 
ascertained that their general sense is of the same 
kind with that which we call touch. Indeed, the 
distances to which many of them find their way, 
and the places where VXie^ ta)Ej& \):^ nXv^^x habitation, 

seek their food, ate ^erj o^xi Tft»»»%^\a.^. 



insects; 193 

manner which to us seems perfectly unaccountable. 
Thos bees return to their nests or hives from long 
distances, in perfectly straight lines, though they 
fly at such a height and with so much rapidity that 
it is impossible for us to suppose that they can be 
guided by any kind of observation or perception at 
all analogous to that which is posses8ed by us. That 
the portion contained in the head of insects is the 
most sentient part of them we have reason to 
believe, because the largest ganglion of the nervous 
mass is seated in the head, just above the entrance 
of the gullet ; but still, true to the general structure 
of invertebrated animals, this principal nervous mass 
is more connected with the gullet, and consequently 
with the system of nutrition, than with any other. 

The alimentary system is worthy of a great deal 
of attention, on account of the endless variety of 
substances on which they feed, and of places in 
which they find those substances. The parts of 
their mouths are more complicated than the same 
parts of vertebrated animals. They have no appro- 
priated English names ; because our English names 
are all derived from the feeding organs of verte- 
brated animals ; and therefore, in order to have 
some means of distinguishing those parts, when en- 
deavouring to trace their iorms, and observe the 
purposes for which they are used, we have no al- 
ternative but to make use of learned terms. There 
are four of these in the mouth of a perfect insect, 
namely the labrum, the mandihulcBy the maxillce^ 
and the labium. The labrum is a sort of upper 
lip, which is articulated to the front part of the 
head, and its free edge extends downwards and 
covers the other parts of the mo\3L\\i% ?L\ka -maiv- 
didultff are two in number, articixVaVj^^oxkfe w^^ ^"wSa. 

VOL. II, o 



196 WESLEY*S PHILOSOPHY. 

all that part of the cavity which contains the vis- 
cera. There is a slight resemblance in this to the 
system in birds, whose blood in part receives the 
action of the air from cells and tubes ; but the blood 
of birds is prepared by regular vessels, and circu- 
lated by a double heart. 

The reproduction of insects is as singular as 
their structure. They are all single-sexed animals, 
with the males and females perfectly distinct. In all 
cases the impregnation is internal ; and, generally 
speaking, it only suffices for a single race; but 
there are some species in which several races of 
females succeed each other in the course of the 
summer without any males among them ; and these 
are often, indeed generally, viviparous, that is, the 
eggs are retained internally, until the young ones 
are hatched. In many of the aphides, or plant 
lice, which are such pests upon roses, cherries, and 
various other trees, this impregnation has been 
observed to continue through nine successive gene- 
rations, and no males to make their appearance 
till the tenth. 

In general, however, males and females appear 
in every successive generation, whether the dura- 
tion of that generation be longer or shorter ; but 
in many races the number of females is very small 
in proportion to that of the males, — one being 
sufficient for keeping up the numbers of a vast 
colony. 

All insects are, as we have said, produced from 

eggs, whether those eggs are hatched externally or 

internally ; and all of them go through certain 

f^^jiangea in the covering, and in most cases in the 

^^pn, of their bo^es, lo -^Yix^^ XJaet^ Sa. Tsathing 

%hgou8 in the rest ot \«\^ mw^. Q\ •^'. 



INSECTS. 197 

wingless tribes, indeed, there are some which have 
only repeated castings of the skin, resembling some 
of those in the animaJs formerly noticed ; and where 
this is the case, the young animals are smaller in 
size than the mature ones ; but similar in shape 
and in habits. Some of the winged species too 
have rudimental wings from the first, and though 
those wings approach nearer and nearer to perfec- 
tion at the repeated castings of the skin, the im- 
mature young, though unable to fly, have other- 
wise the same habits as their parents. 

A very great number, however, make their first 
appearance as caterpillars or grubs, which have six 
true feet on the anterior part of their bodies ; and a 
greater or smaller number of spurious or temporary 
ones upon the posterior part. The technical name 
given to these is larvsB ; and it is in this state that 
insects are so very destructive of vegetable sub- 
stances, though it is possible that a diseased state 
of the vegetables may, in all cases, precede their 
ravages ; and that this disease might, in many 
instances, be more destructive of vegetation, in a 
state of nature, than those larvae are, though their 
depredations are very often most vexatious- to man 
when practising the art of cultivation. We are, 
therefore, not warranted in concluding that even 
the most destructive of these creatures are natural 
evils. No one is justified in saying that there is 
any such thing in nature as an evil, unless in so 
far as it arises from our own ignorance and mis- 
management. There is a proof of this in the fact, 
that the wild forests, and other collections of wild 
plants, in countries where man does not cultivate 
the ground, are quite as Yiea\\^x^, «sA ^^^nkc^"^ 
jaaore durable. AH those calexp'BW*') vft. ^V^ '«^'^" 



198 wislbt's phiumopht. 

ation Merer they may be pkeed, are veny Von- 
ckms ; and this is the case whh many qieoies whidi 
do not eaty and in fiict are not nroTided with any 
organs fw that purpose, during the Tery short time 
thi^ they exist in the mature or winged state r and 
many which do eat in both states, do it by means 
of very different organs, such, for instance, as being 
furnished with hard and stit>ng jaws for gnawing, 
while they are hirv»; and with simple suokera, 
after they haye become perfect insects. In oonse*^ 
quence of their voracity, such of those larve as are 
placed adyantageously, very speedily become &t, 
too much so for the size of their skins ; when this 
takes place, a new skin forms under the old one, 
and the old one is cast off. This operation is 
repeated a grater or smaller number of times 
according to the species ; and the larvaB at its full 
growth is often very considerably larger than the 
complete insect, which is never the case in the 
young of animals which do not undergo trans- 
formation. 

At last, however, a stage comes at which the 
larva is to grow no longer, and then it passes into 
the state of a pupa, in which state its appearance 
and habits vary according to the degree of trans- 
formation. If that is not great, and if the habits 
of the larva resemble those of the perfect insect, 
then the pupa is vigorous and continues to eat and 
move about ; but if the change is complete, such as 
that of a crawling caterpillar into a winged butterfly, 
then the pupa continues for some time in a state of 
inactivityjshut up in a leathery case ; in an envelope^ 
or, as it is called, a cocoon^ of silken tissue, gene- 
rally of much beauty, «u^ ^otEkfe^waR* ^ ^gt«i& 
strength^ as happens m t\k^ <5W» ^"^ ^^ wwaws^ 



INSECTS. 199 

silk-worm ; or in a cell in which it has heen enclosed, 
but which it generally lines with a silken tissue, 
previous to undergoing the dormancy of its trans- 
formation. The different modes in which these 
take place, and the slight shade by which the 
one form of transformation passes into the other, 
are very numerous ; but besides the beautiful in- 
stances of design and contrivance which the whole 
afford, and the great usefulness of some of them to 
man, there are found in them, when we compare them 
with each other, various hints, well calculated for 
keeping us right in our reasonings and judgments 
respecting their economy. 

Thus, for instance, these different degrees of 
time and labour, so to speak, which the trans- 
formation requires, being in proportion to the 
extent of the transformation itself, we have a very 
clear proof that the common notion of all the states 
of the insect being cased up, the one within the 
other, from the beginning, is not true ; but that, dur- 
ing each state, the egg, the larva, the pupa, or the 
perfect insect, is just itself and nothing else ; and 
though, to those who do not reflect very much, this 
may seem a matter of small importance, it is not so 
in truth ; for if we do not suppose that the change 
takes place during the time that it apparently does 
so, and that the larva is simply a caterpillar, just 
as the perfect insect is simply an insect, then we 
entangle ourselves in the very common error of the 
materiality of the principle of life, as well as of the 
matter which composes the body of the living crea- 
ture, and which remains the same to every test of 
matter after the life is extinct; and when we once 
do this it IB exceedingly difficuU \,o t^lt^\i \t^\£^ '^ 
Mceptical dljsposition regarding IYmr «^>jn!w3^ x«^»2t^ 



200 Wesley's PHiLbsoPHT* 

of the aovl of man, and eren tbat of tiie Almigfaty 
author of life. 

We shall now very brieflj mention the differaDt 
orders into which this innumerable mnltiinde is 
usually arranged. These are twelve in number- 

1. Myriapodct^ or ^^many feet." These creSf- 
tures are sometimes also called eenHpedes. They 
never have any wings, their abdomen is never dis- 
tinct from the trunk, and they are generally pro- 
vided with more than six feet, which is not the 
case with any others of the class. They live on 
the ground, lurking under stones; and some of 
them, known popularly by the name of scolopendrs, 
and inhabiting the warmer countries, where they 
grow to a considerable size, are very much dreaded 
by the inhabitants, in consequence of the venomous 
nature of their bite. Some of them are phospho- 
rescent, or have the property of giving out light in 
the dark, though for what purpose is not known. 

2. Thysanoura, The animals of this order 
have only six feet ; and they undergo no transform- 
ation. Their common legs are adapted for walk- 
ing, but not so much for leaping. They however 
perform the last operation by means of appendages 
attached to the posterior extren^ity of the abdomen. 
Some of them live in houses, and are very fre- 
quently found in books when damp ; others live upon 
trees; others, again, on the surface of stagnant 
water, which they sometimes cover in such multi- 
tudes, that it has the appearance of being strewed 
over with floating gunpowder. They are not ani- 
mals of very much interest, in the way either of 
good or of harm. 

3. Parasita^ "paraaitea** TV^saXvi^^i^'OMsst 
-"^wne implies, on the "bodies o^ o'Oaet «scas^s^\ ^as^ 



PARASITES. 201 

they are even more noxious and annoying than the 
acari, to which we alluded in a former part of this 
chapter ; they are known hy the general name of 
lice, though the name is not a very happy one, 
inasmuch as it is applied also to the acari, the 
aphides, and to some other races. It is very sel- 
dom that any one species of this order quits the 
particular animal upon which it is parasitical, in 
order to infest an animal of a different genus ; but to 
those which they do inhabit they are perhaps more 
troublesome than the acari. They are found chiefly 
on the warm-blooded animals ; and they extract 
the blood and juices by means either of a sucker, 
or of two lips with hooked mandibles, which retain 
their hold ; and they also hold firmly with the 
claws on the extremities of their feet. The body 
is flattened, almost transparent, and divided into 
eleven or twelve segments ; they cling very firmly 
to the hairs of mammalia and the feathers of birds, 
to which they attach their eggs so firmly that they 
cannot easily be removed. Several species are 
often found inhabiting different parts of the body 
of the same animal; but none of the race, pro- 
perly so called, upon vegetable substances. One 
species is underst^ood sometimes to breed generally 
under the skin of the human body, and to keep 
issuing from it in immense numbers, thus occasioning 
the n;ost loathsome state that can well be imagined ; 
and one of the worst ciicumstances of it is said to be, 
that while it is perfectly incurable, the miserable 
patient may continue under the burden of it for 
many years, without any very great falling off of 
the general health. 

4. Suctoria, " suckers." TVve^^ «x^^ \«^^'^^ 
not so tormenting in their attnek^ «a \5aR\^N.'»K»r 



•. ■--7"';'3*'w^''?:w? 



# 



204 WEaLvy** vaiLtmoi^mr, 

they have thrir use; Ibr they are nerer fMOii 
except in ntoationB where there is ' Kmie.wuit ti 
attention to cleanliness ; and thiis thej compd 
those animals which they infest, to hare recoorBe 
to washing; dustingr themselves with dry mooki, wad 
performing other operations which' tend greatly to 
a healthy state of the skin. The higher the tem- 
perature of the animal the more it is sahjeet to 
annoyance from these parasites; and as high- 
temperatured animals are those in which the skin 
has the. greatest action, and is, in conseqiuoioey the 
most suhject to he loaded with the matter of per* 
spiration and other refuse, such animals stand moat 
in need of the warnings of these little monitors. 

In the case of man, the two orders last men- 
tioned appear to perform separate fcmctions ; the 
parasita being more immediately the monitors to 
personal cleanliness, whether in the skin or the 
clothing ; and the suctoria more the monitors of 
household cleanliness ; for however careful people 
may be of their bodies and their wearing apparel, 
they are certain to be infested with suctoria, if they 
do not keep their apartments clean ; not only this, but 
if they keep domestic animals in their apartments, 
without paying proper attention to their cleanliness, 
there is every probability, nay, certainty, that the 
species which more immediately attack those ani- 
mals, will inflict their admonition on the neglecting 
master, as well as on the neglected animal. It is 
reported, though with what truth cannot now be 
determined, that, previous to the overthrow of the 
Mexican government in Central America, by the 
invading Spaniards, the rulers of that coimtry used 
to exact bags of those personal and family tor- 
mentors from their subjects, as a mean^ of en- 



COLEOPTERA. 205 

forcing the necessary and wholesome duty of clean- 
liness. The plan must have been a little equivocal, 
however, because the more of the animals that 
were in the house, the tribute would be the more 
easily collected. 

The four orders which we have now briefly no- 
ticed comprise all the apterous or wingless insects, 
which can with propriety be included in this class ; 
though there are others of which some of the sexes 
are apterous when full grown ; and all the larvae, 
without exception, are of that form, though some 
of them are exceedingly active, more so indeed 
than the perfect insects. Some of these orders are 
not properly insects, because they have many more 
feet; and others, though they have the same num- 
ber of feet as the remaining orders, do not undergo 
any sort of transformation ; whereas the true in- 
sects are always subject to at least as much change 
in arriving at maturity, as the receiving of wings, 
which they did not previously possess. These, 
however, are chiefly matters of arrangement ; they 
are not of very great importance. 

5. Coleoptera. This is the first class of in- 
sects properly so called ; for the apterous ones, 
alluded to in the former articles, do not, as was 
then explained, pass through those changes of form, 
or as they are sometimes, but not very correctly, 
styled " metamorphoses," which are characteristic 
of the genuine insects ; and which render them, 
in some respects, the most curious department of 
animated nature. The true insect always passes 
through the three states of Qg^^ larva, and pupa, 
before it arrives at the final or adult state, to which 
the general name of imago is given, because this 



T--:-r-^--^' 



206 wisLsrs mitoiOPRT. 

is the only state mwhkh the cnatiiroiitlMiinprM 
image of the matnri^ of its xttoe* 

llie grand cfaancteristio of the eoleoptem ii 
that of having cases to its wings, wUdi ire not 
themselves organs of flight ; hot whioh serve as s 
very effectual protection to tiioseinstmiiieiiti ; and 
the meaning of the original name is nettrij synony- 
mous with the English words ^ sheathed wings." 
Generally speaking, the coleoplera are cdtted 
heetles ; and it ia in aUnsion to ^ openhig of the 
wing-caseSf when the animal. is on flighty' that poefi 
have applied the epithets of ^^sharded," and ** shard 
home, to beetles, though the last is not quite cor* 
rect, inasmuch as the shards, or elytra, which cover 
the true wings, afford no a s sistance in the operatioB 
of flying. 

All the animals of tins class are not, however, 
called beetles in common language ; for the blister* 
fly, which is so useful in medicine, and the turnip- 
fly, which is so troublesome to the cultivator of 
that plant, are both coleopterous insects, as well as 
those which we call beetles. 

The texture of the wing-covers varies in different 
species of coleoptera; and the consistency of the 
general covering of the body always bears a cor- 
responding proportion to these coverings of the 
wings ; but in all which have the true character, 
the wing coverings are sufficiently large for hiding 
these organs when in a state of repose, which is 
one of the principal distinctions between the cole- 
optera. 

The number-and variety of this class of animals 
is truly astonishing ; and the fact is thus noticed 
by Mr. Westwood, in a clever article upon this 



BEETLES. 207 

class, in the British Cyclopsedia of Natural History : 
"It is, however," he observes, '* anquestionable, 
that the coleoptera exceeds, in point of number of 
species, any other order of insects, although the 
diptera and hymenoptera, now that more atten- 
tion is being bestowed upon the minute species, 
are not far behind the beetles in point of numbers. 
The French collections are estimated to contain 
not fewer than 30,000 distinct species of coleoptera, 
and it is by no means improbable that at least 
20,000 more are contained in the cabinets of other 
countries, wanting in the former. Thus, 50,000 
species may be considered as actually existing in 
our collections ; and when it is known that immense 
tracts of country in Asia, Africa, North and South 
America, New Holland, and the Islands of the 
Southern Ocean exist, from which not a single 
insect has been received, we may without exagger- 
ation conclude that there are from 100,000 to 
150,000 species of beetles in existence. This 
number will not appear too great, when it is men- 
tioned that in our own little island upwards of 
3,500 native species have been actually described." 
Animals, of which the species are so very 
numerous, and the individuals far more numerous 
than the species, cannot be even characterised in a 
sketch, and no full account of their appearances 
and manners can be given in any work of ordinary 
size, or a knowledge of it acquired by the most 
industrious human being during the longest life. 
But, notwithstanding this, we must still suppose 
that the Creator is as faithful to his purpose of 
general benevolence, in those very minute animals, 
as in the remnants of the most powerful races, such 
as the elephant and rhinoceros. In their mature 






208 W18LBT*B raiLOSOPHT^ 

State, the only one in which they are eapable ii 
continuing their species, those creatiires axe did 
in armour which defends their hodies ligaintt 
pressure ; their limhs are particularly strong; and 
as the gpreater number of them are provided wiih 
powerful wings, they are capable of distributing 
their progeny whereyer there hi^ypens to be any 
thing suitable for its support. The larvas are, gene- 
. rally speaking, exceedingly Yoradous ; and from 
their countless multitudes they destroy a vast num- 
ber of substances both animal and vegetable* whidi 
but for them would encumber the earth in a very 
unseemly manner ; and though they often cqone in 
such multitudes as to cause the total destruction 
of useful vegetables over a great extent of soil, 
there is no doubt that they are useful evtti when 
thus occupied, though we are not able to say what 
may be the precise nature and extent of their use- 
fulness. Those larvaB are usually in th^ form of 
a worm, with the head covered with scales, and 
the mouth generally powerful and re^mbling that 
of the matured insect. They have generally six 
feet, though there are some in which these are 
little else than rudimental. Many of these larvs 
live in the earth, into which they plunge to a con- 
siderable depth during the winter of cold and tem- 
perate climates. In such situations they occasionally 
require several years before they arrive at their full 
size. But they all are Inactive and cease to feed 
when in the pupa state ; and this inactivity is more 
complete and longer in duration, in proportion as 
the change which the animal has to undergo in it 
is more or less extensive. 

We may mention the habits of the larvss of 
one geniis, which, on account of the beauty of 



GLOW-WORMS AND FIRE-FLIES. 209 

its colouring, and the ferocity of its disposition is 
often called the tiger beetle. Tliese larvae excavate 
in the earth a deep cylindrical hole, an operation 
which they accomplish with their mandibles and 
feet. In order to empty it they place the detached 
particles on their head, turn about, and climb up 
the ascent step by step, resting at intervals, and 
clinging to the walls of their domicile by means of 
their two dorsal mammillae ; when they arrive at 
the mouth of the aperture they throw down their 
burden. While in ambuscade, the plate of their 
head exactly closes the entrance of their cell, and 
is on a level with the ground. They seize their 
prey with their mandibles, and even dart upon it, 
and by a see-saw motion of their head precipitate 
it to the bottom of the hole. Thither also they 
quickly retreat on the least intimation of danger. 
If they are too confined^ or the soil is not of a 
proper nature, they construct a new habitation 
elsewhere. Such is their voracity that they devour 
other larvae, of the same species, which have taken 
up their abode in their vicinity. When about to 
change their tegument, or to become pupae, they 
close the opening of their cell. 

One very curious family of coleoptera consists 
in great part of those species which are known by 
the names of "glow-worms," and '* fire-flies,'* in 
consequence of a sort of phosphorescent light which 
is given out, generally by the females, but by both 
sexes in some of the species. They are, generally 
speaking, softer in the covering than most of the 
class ; and in those species which have the female 
luminous, that sex is without wings. The luminous 
matter occupies the under part of the last three 
rings of the body, and the part which has this 

YOL. II. p 



210 Wesley's philosophy. 

property does not appear to be very essential to 
the life of the animal, at least the animal will live 
for a considerable time after it is removed. When 
the animal is alive it seems to have considerable 
power over this luminous matter ; but still the 
luminousness appears to be a property of the matter 
of the insect, rather than of the principle of life in 
it. When it gets dry it ceases to shine ; but, even 
in the dead subject, it can be partially revived by 
moistening the body with water ; and it is remark- 
able that when one of these creatures is suddenly 
placed in hydrogen gas, it explodes much in the 
same way that phosphoretted hydrogen does. If 
the body of one of these insects is placed in warm 
water it gives out a very bright light ; but the 
light is speedily extinguished when the animal is 
put in cold water. These curious creatures are all 
nocturnal in their habits ; and it should seem that 
the light is a love signal given to the female, which 
attracts her mate by this curious lamp of nature. 
The male is a winged insect ; and as both are 
solitary in their general habits, one cannot help 
admiring the beautiful contrivance whereby the 
purpose of nature is, in the case of them, brought 
about. It is one of the wonders of creation that 
the very same result is brought about by an endless 
variety of means ; and that, however they may 
vary from each other, those means are all equally 
effective. Nor can we omit noticing as a proof, 
that there is no waste in all the provisions of nature, 
even where they seem the most exuberant ; that 
those genera of this family, in which both sexes 
are provided with wings, are not phosphorescent, 
though, like the others, they are nocturnal. 

Another curious family of coleopterous insects 



DBRMESTIDJE. 211 

are the dermeHideej which are of small size, and not 
numerous in species, but exceedingly destructive. 
They are destroyers of animal substances, and get 
their name from the Greek derma^ a skin, as they 
consume the skins and other hard and dry parts 
of animal bodies, which are left by the flesh flies, 
and others which feed upon animal substances only 
when those substances remain juicy. Their depre- 
dations are most extensive, extending to skins, 
furs, feathers, hom^, and all sorts of firm parts of 
animals, and even the entire carcasses, when these 
have been spared by other destroyers, so as to 
have become dry in the fields. It is in museums 
of natural history, in the warehouses of i^rriers, 
and in the stores of those who collect untanned 
hides, that these little creatures do so very much 
mischief; and the extreme minuteness of their size 
renders the destruction of them a matter of the 
greatest difficulty. It is only while they are in the 
larva state that they commit these ravages; for 
the perfect insects do not consume animal matter 
of any kind, but are found sporting among flowers ; 
though their instinct guides them to substances 
that smell very differently from flowers, for the 
purpose of depositing their eggs. 

As we have observed already, however, it is utterly 
impossible to embody any general description that 
will apply to even a moderate number of those 
insects ; for they are tempered to every shade of 
variety, in country, climate, season, and substance ; 
and their eggs are so distributed everywhere, that 
it is scarcely possible that the proper food of any 
one species of beetle can occur in any one place 
without breeding, that is, maturing the egf^ of the 
very beetle which suits best for clearing away the 

p2 



\ 



212 Wesley's philosophy. 

particular substance ; and as the number of larva 
is, in all such cases, very nicely proportioned to 
the work which requires to be done, and the expe* 
dition requisite in the performance of it, it is im- 
possible not to be equally astonished and delighted 
at the perfect certainty with which these little 
labourers come to their work, and with what cer- 
tainty and expedition they perform it. Indeed, it 
is highly probable, that were it not for those insect 
labourers, the earth could not be inhabited by man, 
or by any of the larger mammalia ; for when we 
consider that of many of the smaller races of ani- 
mals, and of some plants, which in their decay are 
nearly as rank and offensive as any animal matter, 
there are many successive generations in the course 
of the season, we can readily conceive that, if their 
dead bodies were to be cast upon the earth, and 
left to the natural progress of decomposition in the 
atmosphere, that fluid would soon become so tainted 
with the matter of putrefaction, that it would be 
the poison of death, rather than the breath of life, 
to all the higher orders of animated being. Upon 
the whole, we may receive it as a maxim in the 
pliilosophy of n.iture, that, how imperfectly soever 
we may be able to judge of it, not one production 
of nature comes naturally, until its presence is 
required, and not one delays its coming after its 
presence is requisite. Herein is the beauty of the 
system : not one thing which God has made, 
requires to pause for a single moment, waiting the 
necessity that there may be for it; for tlie very 
same circumstances which form the necessity, 
involve in themselves the production of that which 
is necessary ; and therefore, whatever to our limited 
understandings may seem to be a disease in nature, 



ORTHOPTERA. 213 

is in reality a cure. But we must pass to another 
order of insects^ 

6, Orthoptera. The insects of this order have 
the covering of the body much less compact than 
the coleoptera ; and they get their name, which 
signifies " straight winged," from the wings fold- 
ing lengthwise ; thus not being shortened as they 
are in the coleoptera, which have the folds across, 
by means of which the wings are shortened, so as 
to be completely covered by the elytra. In the 
orthoptera, the elytra seldom cover the wings, and 
they are partially of a membranous character, and 
strengthened by homy ribs or nervures. The front 
of the head is furnished with a helmet ; and very 
few are without a tooth piece, extending over the 
jaws. Considered as insects, they are much less 
perfect than the coleoptera ; for though they pass 
through the same number of states, they diflFer 
much less in those states. The larva and the pupa 
move about, and feed in very nearly the same 
manner, and on the same substance, as the perfect 
insects ; and the chief difference consists in the 
absence of wings, the rudiments of which are, how- 
ever, always visible in the pupa. The females of 
some of the species are furnished with ovipositors, 
consisting of two perforating blades, inclosed in a 
sheath ; and by means of these, they can insert 
their eggs into places where they are safe from 
external injuries. No species of this order is known 
to inhabit the waters ; and though some of them 
are carnivorous, and others miscellaneous in their 
feeding, by far the greater number feed upon living 
vegetables ; and many of them are exceedingly 
destructive, on account of their numbers. 

There are two distinct families of this order of 



214 Wesley's philosophy. 

insects, — ^those which are adapted for walking, and 
those which are also capable of leaping. The 
walking ones have the fore legs very little longer 
than the hind ones, and the females never have 
an ovipositor. The ear-wig and cock-roach are 
familiar instances of the walking species ; though 
there is no reason to believe that the former 
gets into people's ears, but it is destructive to 
plants. 

Of the leaping ones, the most remarkable cha- 
racter is the great strength of the fore legs, which 
are in many species, as in the common grasshoppers, 
iitted for leaping to a great distance, while in others, 
as in the mole crickets, the feet are most efficient 
digging instruments ; and the rate at which these 
last can open up a way for themselves in earth of 
pretty firm consistency, is truly astonishing. The 
males of this family have the power of emitting 
a sort of stridulous sound, which is sometimes, but 
very improperly, termed singing. It is not song, 
neither is it voice of any kind ; for from their struc- 
ture these animals can have no voice, as there is 
no passage of air toward any part of their bodies at 
all fitted for such a purpose. The sounds which 
they emit are, like the sounds made by all insects, 
produced externally, and by the medium of the 
common air. In this family there are two ways 
in which the sound is produced : in the first, the 
one elytron is beaten against a tight and elastic 
membranous portion of the other, which produces 
an effect not wholly dissimilar to the beating of a 
little drum ; and the second mode of procedure 
consists in rubbing the thighs backwards and for- 
wards against the edges of the elytra, which 
/Produces a kind of hissing or grating sound. 



hemipteKa. 215 

Our house-crickets and common ^assHoppers are 
comparatively Harmless creatures ; and though the 
mole cricket sometimes does a little mischief in 
gardens, that which it does is not great. Many 
species of locusts are, however, remarkahle for 
the depredations which they commit ; hut their 
ravages seldom extend into temperate climates, and 
rarely if ever into cold ones. They are not unknown 
in Poland, where the summer is generally very 
dry, and the soil light and sandy ; hut even there 
they are not very destructive. In tropical climates, 
especially those which are suhject to long periodical 
droughts, their appearance is much more serious ; 
and when they come in the full muster of their 
army, their march is not to he arrested, even hy a 
hrook of considerahle width and depth. They press 
onward, rolling in heaps, and tumhle each other 
into the stream, until at last so many dead hodies 
are accumulated as suffice to form a hridge, across 
which the succeeding numhers pass. A remark- 
ahle instance of this kind occurred lately in New 
South Wales, where the invading cloud, which 
appeared to come from the central deserts, con- 
trived to cross a stream of considerable breadth 
upon this most singular kind of bridge^ Nor is this 
all ; for, while the lion and the elephant turn back 
in fear from the light of a torch, the column of 
locusts will march right onward upon a line of fire, 
until they have extinguished it with their bodies, 
in the same manner as they employ them in bridging 
the waters. 

7. Hemiptera* The name of this order implies 
that the animals which compose it are but half- 
winged ; and besides the two preceding orders, 
tbejr are the only insects which have elytra or 



216 Wesley's philosophy. 

covers to their wings. These elytra are generally 
crustaceous or leathery for a portion of their length, 
but simply membranous for the remainder of it 
Their best character, however, is founded in the 
structure of the mouth, or other sucking appa- 
ratus, whatever the apparatus may be. In them, 
it is a sort of rostrum, which, when in a state of 
rest, is folded backwards on the under part of the 
head ; but when the animal extends it, it is found 
to have a groove on the i^>per side. This contains 
and supports three very finely pointed bristles, 
covered with a tongue at their base, and having 
one of them divided into two parts, so that the in- 
strument has four points, by means of which it can 
penetrate the bark of a plant, or the skin of an 
animal, according as its hahits are to prey upon the 
one or the other. There is reason to believe, from 
the pain that the punctures made by those creatures 
occasion, that there may be an infusion of acrid 
juice into the wound, by means of which the parts 
of that which is attacked are irritated, and an 
unnaturl action brought on, which favours that 
production of the juice or blood, of which this order 
of insects is always in search. 

They are all animals which live by suction ; and 
though they undergo the changes of the three states 
after they leave the egg, those changes are but 
trifling ; and the habits of the animals are the same. 
They are produced from eggs in the form of small, 
active, six-legged larvae, preserving an almost 
exact resemblance of the perfect insect, though 
totally destitute of wings or wing covers. After 
repeated sheddings of the skin, by which an in- 
crease of size merely is gained, they appear as 
pupse, still active^ however, and differing only by 



HEMIPTERA. 217 

having the wings and wing'Covers enclosed 
within separate cases on the upper part of the bod j. 
Another shedding of the covering transforms them 
into the imago or the perfect insect, and their 
wings are then fully developed. In the wingless 
species, the transformations consist merely in 
gradual increase of size, at the different shed- 
dings of the covering. The hemiptera in the pupa 
state requires the same quantity of nourishment as 
it does when in the larva state. 

As an example of this order of insects, we may 
mention the house bug (C/me^ lectularitis)^ which, 
though a repulsive insect, is a curious one. The 
history of this insect in a domesticated state, for it 
is very strictly and pertinaciously a household ani- 
mal, is involved in a good deal of absurdity if not 
obscurity. Bugs are by no means fond of the 
pungent, smoke which arises from the burning of 
wood, or turf, as fuel, especially when, as in the 
case of the old and ill-constructed hovels of our 
ancestors, this smoke habitually occupies the upper 
part of the dwelling, and is left to find its way out 
as it best can. Smoke of this description contains 
a very great quantity of pyrohgneous oxide, and 
therefore m those places of the country where wood 
and peat are employed as fuel, and the houses are 
without close chimneys, and have merely holes for 
letting out the smoke, no such thing as a bug is 
known ; and, though objectionable upon other 
grounds, houses warmed in this manner arc more 
free from insects of almost every kind, than more 
fashionable houses which are heated by fires of 
coal. There is, no doubt, a great deal of pungent 
matter in the smoke even of coal ; but there is not 
nearly so much as in that of wood and peat ; and, 



2lU Wesley's philosophy. 

as the application of pungent efBuvia to the 
breathing spiracles of all insects, is the surest 
means of destroying them or driving them off, it 
has generally occurred that the bug has very speedily 
followed the introduction of coal as the general 
article of fuel ; and this has sometimes led to the 
supposition that the insect has come from quarters, 
and by means which are quite incorrect. Southall, 
in his treatise on these insects, states that they made 
their first appearance in London after the great fire 
in 1666, *< which learned men," he observes, ^united 
in thinking were imported with the new deal tim- 
ber, as the bugs were naturally fond of turpentine 
woods ;" but Mouffet records an instance which 
occurred in 1503, which shows that they existed in 
this country at this early date. Two noble dames, 
residing at a village called Mortlake, had been so 
alarmed by being bit by bugs, conceiving that the 
visitation augured symptoms of the plague or some 
other contagious malady, that they instantly sent for 
their physician to procure his aid. The doctor came 
in great haste, and having examined his patients, 
pronounced their case to be anything but a dan- 
gerous one ; and, having some acquaintance with 
the natural history of the bug, he in so far succeed- 
ed, by explanation and other means, of soothing the 
fears of his noble patients. The antiquity of the 
bug may also be established by its having been 
noticed by Aristotle, Galen, Pliny, and other 
ancient naturalists, under the name of coris. These 
naturalists ascribe medical properties to the insect, 
and especially of its acting as a remedy for the 
bite of serpents ; but as the belief in those days 
was that every substance was medicinal in the 
same proportion as it was repulsive to the feelings,. 



UEMIPTERA. ^19 

the bug owed its imaginary virtues to its demerits, 
not to its merits. It was also applied in numerous 
other diseases, and, according to MoufPet, who 
bestowed great pains in collecting both the ancient 
and modem history of the bug, four bugs, taken 
fasting every morning for four successive days, 
was considered a sovereign remedy for the colic. 
Bugs have, however, long ceased to have any me- 
dicinal reputation, and modem art has been more 
directed towards the means by which the insects 
themselves can be destroyed. 

As happens in all cases where people meet with 
a good deal of annoyance, and do not themselves 
understand how to get rid of it, the pretended 
eradication of bugs from houses has led to the 
employment of numerous quacks and quack 
nostrums ; but in spite of them all, and even in 
spite of the presumed superior cleanliness of mo- 
dern houses, bugs have multiplied greatly in those 
places where they were formerly introduced, and 
they have also been introduced into others in which, 
in earlier times, they were unknown. Among all 
the remedies that have been recommended for the 
eradication of this obnoxious pest, we have no 
hesitation in pronouncing that a strict attention to 
cleanliness is the best, and indeed, without this, all 
other means will be unavailing. Fumigation by 
brimstone has been found to act powerfully in clearr 
ing houses of bugs. But it may be added that 
very many of those prescriptions which have been 
recommended are, from their poisonous nature, 
very dangerous, and require to be used with the 
greatest of caution. Though the bug belongs to 
an order of insects which have, generally speaking, 
wings, yet they are not provided with these organs, 
but they have elytra or wing coNet«% 



R. 



i 



220 Wesley's philosophy. 

Other insects of this order inhabit the watei 
are carnivorous, feeding on other insects, whicl 
follow with great energy. Others, again 
exclusively on plants, of which they sucl 
juices ; and of these some are furnished with ci 
drums, by beating upon which they produce r 
impleasant sound. The females are provided 
an ovipositor, consisting of three pieces, i 
enclosed in a sheath. With this the f 
penetrates dead twigs, where she deposits her • 
but the larvae feed in the ground, at least for 
time before undergoing their changes. Nor is 
worthy of remark, that the females of those ii 
should have the instinct of selecting those 
which are most likely to be blown down b 
winds, and thus most readily to bring the ] 
into that situation which is most congenial to 
growth. These creatures are most abunda 
the warmer countries, where they punctur 
trees, and occasion various exudations, and, a 
the rest, that substance which is known b 
name of manna. To this order also belon 
aphides, the gall insects, and a variety of o 
which are remarkable for the ravages they c( 
on the buds, young branches, and, generally s 
ingj the tender bark of trees. 

8. Neuroptera, or " nerve-winged " ir 
These differ from the three preceding ord 
the character of their upper wings, which j 



NEUROPTERA, 221 

them are carnivorous insects, and they are usually 
very energetic in the pursuit and capture of their 
prey. They admit of several subdivisions. Some 
have their larvae inhabitants of the water, active and 
voracious while there, and undergoing only a par- 
tial metamorphosis; others, still carnivorous, un- 
dergo a complete metamorphosis; and of these 
some larvae inhabit the water and others the land. 
A third form have terrestrial larvae with an imper- 
fect metamorphosis, and are miscellaneous in their 
feeding. Others still have a complete metamor- 
phosis ; and the larvae inhabit the water, construct- 
ing dwellings which they move about under the 
water. 

The^ dragon-flies, which are accused of stinging 
horses, and other acts of mischief for which their 
structure does not at all adapt them, are one very 
familiar instance of this order of insects. Their 
larvae invariably live in the water, in which they 
are very voracious feeders. They are armed with 
strong crooked mandibles, which open and shut 
like a pair of pointed pincers ; and with these they 
assail and kill a vast number of their smaller fellow- 
tenants of the pools and streams, not in wanton 
cruelty, but for the purpose of satisfying their appe- 
tites. The full grown insects, which live in the air, 
though they frequent the margins of waters, are 
equally voracious as the larvae ; and the number of 
insects which they destroy is immense. Thus, in 
as far as man is concerned, they are the ministers 
of good, and not of evil. 

The ephemera or May-flies are another remark- 
able instance of this order. They make their 
appearance in immense numbers, so that they 
■ resenible a shower of snow, and, in places and 



222 W£SLEY*8 PHILOSOPHY. 

states of the weather favourahle to their growth, 
those showers will continue descending for a greaX 
part of the night. The only ohject that we can 
discover in their hrief lives is the continuation of 
the race; for when the operation necessary for 
that purpose is accomplished, they tumble down to 
the earth and on the waters literally in heaps ; and 
so greedily are they sought after by various sorts 
of fresh- water fishes, that the fishermen look upon 
their appearance, in more than ordinary numben, 
as being a sort of 'special providence. Perhaps the 
most extraordinary insects of this order, however, 
are the ant-lion, and the white ants of tropical 
countries, of both of which some notice will be 
given in the next chapter. 

9. Hymenopt&t^ay or insects with membranoHB 
wings, in which the frame-work is not nearly so 
conspicuous as it is in the Neuroptera. In sdme 
respects this is the most interesting order of all the 
insects ; and it is so both on account of the indi- 
rect advantages which they bestow upon man, and 
also on account of the incredible number of more 
destructive insects which they destroy, and the 
curious manner in which that destruction is brought 
about. Some of them are, however, in their turn 
capable of doing a good deal of mischief to useful 
vegetables, and others are annoying in consequence 
of the envenomed stings with which they are armed. 
The order is very extensive, and diffused over 
every part of the world ; and the operations which 
they perform in the economy of nature are often 
of the greatest importance, more especially to the 
vpp-ptable tribes, either in promoting the fertility of 
^•7![ ' ^^' distributing the pollen of the anthers 
vided ^j'^i^g sty\e, ox b^ destroying the larvae, espe- 
wAcei/i Hi 



HYMENOPTERA. 223 

cially of those insects which are so destructive to 
vegetation ; and which would, in spite of all the 
labours of the birds of song, defeat the purpose of 
nature in many instances, were it not that the 
insects of this order reach them in their most secret 
recesses, and effectually operate their destruction. 

It is not easy to give a general description, 
which will apply to the whole of this order of in- 
sects, though there is a family likeness that runs 
through the whole. They are all mandibulated, or 
furnished with jaws opening and shutting laterally, 
and also with maxillas or lower jaws; and the 
under hp is usually formed into a sort of tongue or 
sucker, by means of which they can lick or suck 
honey from the nectaries of flowers, which is their 
principal food. For this purpose, the tongue or 
sucker is often very considerably elongated; and 
we are presented with the singular spectacle of 
creatures having a double mouth, — that is, a mouth, 
the one part of which is adapted for eating, and the 
other part for sucking. The last of these is the 
feeding part ; but the cutting part is also devoted 
to many very important purposes ; for by means of 
it, assisted occasionally by the feet, these insects 
elaborate the most singular structure that can 
well be imagined. They form waxen cells, they 
burrow into the ground, they collect moss, often in 
very considerable quantities, for the formation of 
nests. They mine their way into timber, and par- 
tially even into stone ; they form a sort of paper or 
pasteboard, by scraping ofip the substance of dry 
wood, and pasting it together with a natural cement 
secreted by their mouths ; they even unite particles 
of sand and dust in the same manner into firm 
structures; and they roll up green leaves in the 



k. 



-".r—i- ^~- .:..-:-.. T .•:■:!: r-:- . izi "sriiea w 
K -c=ii.:.*i:: -..:--. -. T ;."-: .■.i:.---vi.z>r*i :: ifsiit t 

■j 1-- -ii^r-i-.:.-- .." -I'i :»f=r r:-.-T£:f.i -.mdcrst; 

I ... 

: - . .- 

*&< t\lj:1 '-irf .'■r--ir:j"f Li* :: n-ke cl it. 
^.c fh'Sii :■-.- ::•-- .: :f i T«:-»-:rfi'. 5:1'^- which 
"fc:.i: .-■ : :.: . ~ . -7 i -'mrj: iz ziokr*. more 
"■-r_:c:. :.■-•.?:.'; t: :-v ziv_re and size 
<7»:':--.>. I: .: .? :ir r.i":.: ::' tirv^ung to fe^ 
:j : £---•:■ ..■."-"•? :: 7.i_:f. :r.fL :nis appen 
:':: ::7-:. :> .> -. fTT ^rn-jn/v ::rr-:ed into a 
SI if- •r.^r-: "•.:! :^ *"..: is verv cuicklv made 
":.iri :: i :r:*r, ali :r.e e^i: deposited in t 
:r.^r-: :: rMV-i:.: Srcv.re during the winter, 
c;r;-:i:s:^r.::s- :avouraV.e to the existence 



HYMENOPTERA. 225 

IS no concealing the egg& or the young of those 
other insects over which the species in question 
appear to he set as regulators of their numhers. 
Many of these deposit their eggs under the hark of 
trees, or in dry and decaying timher ; hut let their 
concealment be ever so perfect, ever so inscrutable 
to the human eye by any external indication, and 
yet the parasitical hymenoptera will find them out, 
knd insert an egg in them with the most unerring 
certainty, which in due time quickens into life, and 
feeds upon the insect into which it was deposited. 

When we state that this order of insects contains 
all the families of bees, of wasps, and of ants, 
together with the sand-wasps, the saw-flies, and 
the ichneumons — which last are sometimes called 
cuckoo-flies, because, like the common cuckoo, they 
insinuate their eggs into the nests of other creatures, 
and by that means eflect the destruction of the 
young bees, — when we mention that all these are 
contained in the order hymenoptera^ we trust that 
we have said enough to recommend them to every 
reader. , 

The order is conveniently divided into two sec- 
tions, or sub-orders : the first comprising those in 
which the appendage to the abdomen of the females 
consists of a sting ; and secondly, those in which 
it consists of saws, or of an ovipositor. There are 
differences in the habits of these creatures, corre- 
sponding to these differences of structure in this 
organ of the females. They all provide for their 
young; but those with the sting provide by col- 
lecting a store of provisions for them, in which 
they often show the most remarkable perseverance 
and industry ; and those which have the ovipositor 
in place of the sting, are equally assiduous in placing 

VOL. JI. Q, 



226 Wesley's philosophy. 

their young in situations where a supply of food 
can readily be found. There is a difference in the 
organization of the young, which shows how beau- 
tiftilly the want and the supply are adapted to each 
other in nature. Those hymenopterous larvae which 
are placed in a situation where there is abundant 
food for them, whether that food has been collected 
by the parent insect, or the egg has been deposited 
in it, are always without feet ; as to them such 
organs would be useless, because they require not 
to move until they have undergone their trans- 
formations, and have come forth in the perfect or 
imago state. But in the case of those saw-flies 
which deposit their eggs in notches of the bark of 
trees, and whose young are to feed, not on the 
bark, but on buds and leaves, which are not deve- 
loped at the time when the eggs are deposited, the 
larvae are always furnished with legs, by means of 
which they can climb about in search of their food ; 
and as is the case with most larvae or caterpillars, 
which feed among the leaves of trees, and range 
about in their feeding, they are furnished with a 
spinning apparatus in the under lip, by means of 
which they can anchor themselves to a leaf in case 
of danger, and even drop down when an enemy 
appears, and hang suspended by the thread until 
that enemy is gone. 

The parasitical division, or those which, instead 
of providing for their own offspring, place it so as 
that it shall feed upon provision otherwise obtained, 
whether animal or vegetable, have less labour than 
those which provide for their families. Still they 
are not idle ; for it costs the females no small ranging 
about, before they can find the substances which 
are best adapted for receiving their eggs. These, 



* PARASITICAL INSECTS. 227 

however, are all solitary, never living in commu- 
nities, or having different portions of their number 
destined to the performance of different kinds of 
labour. Even the larvae are, generally speaking, 
placed so as to be solitary, or one only in the egg^ 
caterpillar, or insect, in which they are deposited by 
the mother. To this, however, there are exceptions, 
especially in the case of very small ones, which are 
deposited in caterpillars of considerable size ; for 
in the case of the small ichneumon (^Microgaster 
glomeratus)i^\ii(^ renders so essential a service by 
preying upon the caterpillar of the common white- 
cabbage butterfly (Pontia rapcB)^ there are often 
a dozen, twenty, or even more, which issue from 
the body of the caterpillar, and immediately spin 
their little cocoons of yellow silk, in which they 
undergo their transformation without any further 
feeding than that which they have previously en- 
joyed in the juices of the caterpillar, whose empty 
s^ is left in the middle of the cocoons, as a 
trophy of their labours. 

Those races which have no ovipositor, but gene- 
rally a sting in the females, and which have to 
perform severe labours in providing for their young, 
are social in many of the species ; and the habits 
of one or two of the more remarkable of these will 
be briefly noticed in the miscellaneous chapter on 
insect life. There are others, however, which are 
solitary; and among these the females liave often to 
perform more severe labours, in proportion to their 
size and apparent strength, than any other known 
race of animals. Those species in which the labours 
of the females may be regarded as being most 
severe, are, generally speaking, very seasonal in 
their action. As the cold weather sets in, they all 

q2 



228 Wesley's philosopht. 

perish, with the exception of a few impregnated 
females, which contrive to survive the winter by 
burying themselves in the ground, or creeping into 
holes and crannies ; where they remain in a dormant 
state, without exercising any of the functions of 
life, until the warmth of a new season awakens them 
from their death-like repose. They betake them" 
selves to those hiding places the instant that the 
act of fertilization has passed upon them, and their 
progeny make no progress, even in the egg^ until 
they have been for some time active during the 
spring. This spring activity is not wholly or chiefly 
devoted to the finding of their own food ; for the 
grand seasonal labour of these solitary females, 
which have escaped the severity of the winter, is 
the founding each of a new colony, to perform the 
labours of the summer, and act in nature that part 
which is ordained them. Those of the bee family 
prepare wax until they have built a certain number 
of cells, and collect honey and the pollen of flowers 
until a certain number of those cells are stored with 
provision, at a comparatively early period of the 
season. But while this is carried on, the foundress of 
the colony, or rather that instinct or law of nature by 
means of which, all unreasoning and unknowing of 
her part, she performs her curious labours, lays the 
foundation of an assistance, which shall increase in 
proportion as the activity of the year renders an 
increase necessary. It is also equally wonderful 
and instructive, that while the demand is only for 
an additional number of hands, so to speak, for the 
performance of the labour of the season, the young 
which are produced are all females ; and though, 
in those colonies which have a solitary foundress, 
jt is probable that the females are all perfect 



VAHI01TS INSECTS. S29 

xmmals, and not seslesB neuters, as is the case with 
those which lire in permanent societies, yet the 
season is pretty far advanced before the foundress 
of the colony deposits any eggs from which males 
are produced. Indeed, it is hi^ly probable, that 
in the greater part,if not the whole, of those colony- 
founding insects, the males are useful only for the 
purpose of preserving the race during the winter, 
though for this purpose It should seem that all the 
females are, toward the latter part of the year at 
least, capable of being fertile ; and thus every one 
which can escape the winter, awakens from her 
lethargy in the spring, in a proper condition for 
founding a colony. It is not so with those social 
races which w^ permanent in their dwellings! for in 
these the greater number of the females are unde- 
veloped or infertile, and they survive the winter, 
as well as the fertile females, while the males are 
all chased off, or if necessary killed, before the 
severe weather sets in. 

The last-mentioned races do not hybernate, 
though they all enjoy a seasonal retreat from the 
open air, during those months when the fields are 
barren of their adequate food. All such provide 
for themselves a winter store ; and tfao)]»h their 
diminished activity renders a much smallcy bM^?^? 
of food snfScient for them, they do (i^. . -v^e "^ 
feed during the winter. "wv 

Of the races which collect tie bo^j Jo' 

insects, and not honey or pollen, or J^-v.^'^ (T V 
of plants, for the food of their offspJJcV vf^ 
which is formed is a mere nidus fv/^"tx ^ Vi*^ 
while they are in the larva and P*^V %■ "^ * 
neither the parent insect nor the-J^V. \v^ 
make use of it as a dwelling place./^:0^ v \S 



2B2 weslst'b philosophy. 

attained their foil size, and are ready to undergo 
their change. In some instances the young idk* 
neumons remain in the hody of the caterfnllar 
imtil they have midergone their final transftMma- 
tion ; and in such cases they issue from the dead 
caterpillars in the- state of perfect insects. Hie 
period of their progressive growth at which they 
come forth, depends of course upon the kind it 
caterpillar, and the degree of advance which it has 
made when the eggs of the ichneumon are lodged 
in its hody. The whole femily do not, however, 
deposit their cocoons in or near the remains of 
those caterpillars upon which they feed when in 
a state of larva; for some of them attach their 
cocoons to the stems of plants or "^ leaves of 
trees. Some members of the family are &vourable 
to other hymenopterous insects. There are some 
insects which deposit their eggs on the hives of bees ; 
and the larvae feed upon the wax of which the cells 
are composed ; and it should seem that one species 
of ichneumon, at least, finds out the places where 
those parasites are deposited ; and, by depositing 
its eggs within them, contrives to make its progeny 
in the parasite — contrives to spoil the spoiler. 

One of the most useful of those little creatures is 
that which destroys those aphides which are so 
destructive of many sorts of valuable trees ; and, 
perhaps, in British gardens the most interesting is 
the Aphis roscBy which, however, does not feed on 
the rose tree, but on the spoilers of the rose tree ; 
and is not confined to the spoilers of roses, but 
attacks also those which are found on other trees. 
As the manners of this one are illustrative of 
those of many of the others, and as they have 
been carefully observed and correctly described 



APRIS ROS^. 233 

by Mr. Haliday, we shall quote his (lescription» 
only remarking that the aphis which this fly attacks 
is called a puceron in his account. '^ This/' says 
Mr. H., "is the species most frequently noticed by 
authors, being a familiar inhabitant of our gardens, 
where the male may be seen throughout the sum- 
mer hovering over the rose trees, or creeping 
under the leaves. His partner is of less roving 
habits, and generally will be found busy in provid- 
ing for the establishment of her numerous progeny. 
Placed at her birth amid the myriads of pucerons 
which encircle the young shoots of the rose, she 
has no dwelUng t6 construct with artful industry, 
nor stores of food to collect by distant rovings. 
With extended antennae and wings shivering with 
desire, she paces leisurely among the defenceless 
herd, and as soon as she has selected one, by a 
light touch of her antennae, she stops short at 
about her own length from it ; and rising her stif- 
fened legs, bends her abdomen under her breast, 
till the end of it projects beyond her mouth, then 
erecting her thorax by depressing the hinder part, 
she simultaneously makes a plunge forward with 
the abdomen, which is thus extraordinarily length- 
ened, and by a momentary touch deposits an egg 
on the under side of the puceron near its tail. The 
victim will sometimes kick and sprawl, so as to 
discompose her, but, being anchored by its sucker 
plunged in the bark, can make no eflectual attempt 
to elude the deadly weapon. Should it, however, 
be wandering at large, and free to struggle, she 
shows great activity in traversing around it in the 
attitude of attack, till she can take it in the flank* 
The delicate sense of the antennae seems to warn 
her where a germ has been already deposited, as she 
will pass by those which bav^ \i^€ii ^\mcr% 'SMvaa 



234 wi8unr*8 philosophy. 

days before ; and I have never fbond more than a 
single g^rub on one individual. When all the infea* 
rior of the puceron is consumed, it will be foond 
separated from its fellows^ and motionleflSy uauaDy 
on the upper side of a leaf, to which it is ghied hj 
some viscid exudation* It now appears dutendeJL 
and of an opaque hazel or lighter tint If opened, 
the fall fed grub of the aphis will be foond 
doubled up and filling the cavity, its head being 
next the tail of the puceron. In a shorttime the 
parts of the perfect instant are developed in a qoiv 
escent state, and in the same position the intfr^ 
guments of the grub being shrivelled up, as if in 
black grains. like cynips and callimomes^ it spins 
no cocoon for its transformation, hemg a^bqu^y 
protected by the indurated skin of its victim. A 
few days are sufficient to give consistence to its 
parts ; and while the new risen sun is yet glisten- 
ing in the early dews, the winged insect by a push 
of its heacl detaches the latter rings of its case ; 
which separate in the form of a circular lid, often 
springing back to close the orifice after the inhabi- 
tant has gone forth, bom, in the maturity of her 
energies and instincts, to renew the circle of her 
existence." 

Those species which find out the larves of other 
insects in concealed places are still more curious ; 
and for this reason we shall give in substance an 
abridged account of one of the largest of the family 
(Pimpla manifestator), as described by Mr. 
Marsham from his own observations, and detailed 
by him in the third volume of the Linnsean Trans- 
actions. This species is of a black colour; with 
some blue spots on the thorax, and two of the 
same colour upon each ring of the abdom^a. Its 
dntennsB are very long) consXasi^^ VsLTOAi^aoOt and 



PIMPLA MANIFESTATOR. 235 

apparently endowed with an acute sense of some 
description or other. The body is attached to the 
abdomen by a short peduncle, and the third or 
hinder pair of legs are much longer than the rest, 
obviously for the purpose of enabling the creature 
to work its ovipositor. The ovipositor is very 
long, nearly as long as the whole body and the 
antenns ; and it consists of the central piece, or 
ovipositor, properly so called, together with two 
lateral pieces, which are reflected upward when the 
central piece is in use, and therefore must be con- 
sidered merely as protection to that more impor- 
tant organ upon ordinary occasions. Mr Marsham 
observed a female of this species running along the 
top of a post in Kensington Gardens, with its 
antennae in a state of excitement. It soon intro- 
duced them into a hole of the post which had been 
made by some insect, and repeated this three times, 
as if the first and second trial had not been suf- 
ficient to complete the discovery as to whether 
the hole in the post contained any thing fitted for 
the reception of its egg. After a third trial it 
turned about, and, dexterously measuring its dis- 
tance, reflected back its abdomen over its head 
and thorax, lowering at the same time its long and 
slender ovipositor, which it inserted into the hole, 
remaining in this situation two minutes ; it then 
withdrew its ovipositor, turned round and again in- 
troduced its ovipositor, repeating the operation three 
different times. On another occasion, Mr. Mar- 
sham witnessed a number of these insects at work ; 
but these appeared bent on piercing the solid wood 
with the middle part of their ovipositors, which 
they ultimately managed to do to the entire length 
of the instrumenti which he observed they sup* 



^ 



2d6 VESLST*8 PHILOfiOPHtr. 

ported in a straight 'posititm with their, poslefior. 
thighs. It seemed very surprising to see .an iiir 
Btrument apparently so weak and slender^ wkh the 
force of so insignificant an animal applied to i^. 
able to penetrate solid wood to the d^^th of three 
quarters of an inch ; — but it was discovered that it 
was inserted into the centre of a minute white spo^. 
in appearance like mould or mildew, but which on 
close inspection was found to be small particles of 
fine white sand, nicely closing up a hole made by 
the wild bee for containing her cells, and in whidk 
the larvae of that insect were no doubt deposited. 

Some of the eynips, or insects which deposit 
their eggs in plants, and endow them with a singular 
property of converting the juices of those planti 
into a substance partaking of the nature of the 
vegetable, but differing from it in structure, are 
often very curious. When the substances thus 
formed are circular, or bear some resemblance to a 
spurious fruit, they are termed galls or gall nuts, 
of wbich the one formed upon the oak, and used 
along with sulphate of iron in the manufacture of 
common ink and in dying black, is one of the best 
known and most useful. Sometimes those creatures, 
notwithstanding their general injury to vegetation, 
are often serviceable to it Thus, for instance, there 
is a species which is employed for fertilizing the 
fig trees, in countries where figs are much culti- 
vated. The pollen, or matter of fertilization, does 
not come to such maturity in the late crop, which 
is the valuable one of cultivated figs, as it does in 
the wild fig trees, the fruit of which last is of com* 
paratively little value; but there is a species of 
cynips, the larva of which is deposited in the 
blossom of the wild fig ; and when the insects come 



LEPIDOPTERA. 237 

to maturity, they leave those wild fig trees with 
their hodies covered with pollen. In this state their 
instinct leads them to seek the cultivated fig trees 
for the purpose of depositing their eggs ; and the 
cultivators, instead of preventing them, open the 
eye of the fruit, in order to admit them into the in- 
terior ; for as they carry the pollen there, and rub 
it against the stigmas which are contained in the 
fruit, they are the means of causing the fruit to 
swell and come to maturity, which it would not do, 
at least so well, without their assistance. We 
must, however, proceed to the next order. 

10. Lepidoptera, or insects with scaly wings, 
or rather perhaps wings covered with very minute 
feathers. This is one of the most gay and 
beautiful divisions of the living world ; and it com- 
prises the whole of those insects which are popularly 
known by the names of butterflies and moths. 

All the members of the family are, in their per- 
fect state, furnished with four wings, the scaly 
covering of which is easily removed by a touch of 
the finger. In this state they do not gnaw or divide 
any substance, and their mouths are by no means 
adapted for such a purpose. The efficient part of 
the mouth consists of a sort of tongue, which, 
when not in use, is coiled up spirally between two 
scaly or hairy palpi ; and this tongue, which acts 
as a sucker, is the instrument used by these animals 
in feeding. Their food consists of the nectar of 
flowers, which they suck up by means of the in- 
strument now described ; and the other parts of 
the mouth, except in so far as they^erve to sup- 
port this sucker, are very little developed. The 
abdomen of the females is composed of six or seven 
rings, and it is attached to the thorax by a very 



242 WK8I.BY*8 PH1L080PHT. 

feet at one end of the body, while the rest of the 
body, and by far the greater part of . its length, 
sticks out in form and appearance so like a &tle 
withered twig, that pretty doae inspection is 
required before one can decide whether it is or 
is not a caterpillar. The length of time which 
they can remain in this position is yery great ; and 
it does not appear to signify mndh in what manner 
gravitation acts upon the body, for it stands up-' 
wards^ downwards, or laterally at any angle wit}i 
apparently the same ease. This seems bnt a^ 
trifling matter when we look at it in an ammal of 
this kind ; but if we attempt to hang by the arms, 
or even to remain with the arm extended at full 
length, we shall find how inferior our muscular 
powers are to those of these humble caterpillars; 
for we could not possibly keep the arm extended, 
or even the finger pointed, with the elbow sup- 
ported against the side, for even a twentieth pfui 
of the time during which the caterpillar can keep 
its body at perfect rest, and in a projecting posi- 
tion ; and this must be done by muscular force 
alone ; for the skin of the caterpillar is compara- 
tively soft ; and thus its muscles have no fulcrum, 
or point of resistance to which to refer their action, 
except the small portion of the twig to which the 
feet adhere. 

For the accomplishment of this and other very 
peculiar motions and states which are necessary 
in the economy of caterpillars, there is requirea 
a degree of muscular complication and perfection, 
for which we might seek in vain in any of the ver- 
tebrated animals, or indeed in any of the insects in 
their perfect states, in which their motions are ana- 
logous to those of the yertebrated animals. But 



MUSCLES OF CATERPILLARS. 243 

even here there is no failure in the grand provision 
which is so bountifully made for all the children of 
nature, according to their several necessities. The 
number of muscles contained in the body of a 
caterpillar would be beyond all credibility, if the 
fact had not been ascertained by direct observation, 
the accuracy of which no one can call in question. 
Lyonnet, an accurate observer of the insect tribes, 
counted, in the caterpillar of the goat-moth, no 
fewer than four thousand and forty-one muscles, 
each capable of being exerted singly, or the whole 
capable of action to the full extent of every permu- 
tation and combination of that immense number ; 
and it is no exaggeration to say, that a hundred 
years, ay, even a thousand, would not be sufficient 
for repeating once over all the motions which such 
a set of muscles could produce, even though the 
time of each motion were limited to half a second : 
such are the resources which the all-bountiful 
Author of nature has given to these, which we 
reckon among the most insignificant of his crea- 
tures. 

These caterpillars, or larvae, have in general the 
body long, nearly cylindrical, of a soft texture, 
variously tinted, sometimes clad with hairs, tuber- 
cles, and spines. It is composed of twelve seg- 
ments or annuUi, besides the head, with nine stig- 
mata on either side. The head is invested with a 
homy or scaly skin, and presents on each side six 
bright granules, which seem to be ocelli ; and it is 
also furnished with two extremely short and conical- 
shaped antennae ; and the mouth is formed of strong 
mandibles, two maxillae, a labium, and four small 
palpi. The silky matter which they employ in the 
formation of their threads, and which) thoa^^v \t 

k2 



244 Wesley's philosophy. 

speedily acquires a good deal of consistency after 
it is exposed to the air, is a liquid while in the 
body of the animal. It is secreted by, or at all 
events collected in, two long and tortuous vessels, 
which become slender toward their anterior ex- 
tremities, and both terminate in the lip, where 
there is a tubular nipple of a conical form, which 
serves as a spinneret in the construction of the 
threads, its aperture contracting or expanding 
according as the thread requires to be smaller or 
thicker; and the caterpillar instinctively knows 
how to husband its store, so as to proportion the 
strength of the thread to the length to which it 
requires to be drawn out. When the caterpillar 
drops by the thread in order to escape from danger, 
it has the power of converting the thread into a 
ladder, by means of which it regains the point to 
which the thread is attached ; and though the feet 
are made use of in working upwards on the thread, 
there are some of the species, at least, which have 
the power of absorbing the thread, so that it 
may be available on future occasion without any 
waste of substance. How this is done it is not 
easy to say, though it is probable that it is taken 
in by the mouth, and not by the spinneret, in the 
same manner as spiders may be often seen devour- 
ing the webs of other spiders of inferior size, which 
thev have driven oflf, in order to add the substance 
of the web to their own store of material. Most 
lepidopterous caterpillars feed on the leaves of 
plants ; some gnaw their flowers, roots, buds, and 
seeds ; others attack the ligneous or hardest parts 
of the trees, softening it by a fluid substance, 
which they disgorge. Certain species attack our 
Tvooiiens and furs, thereby doing us much injury : 



CATERPILLARS. 245 

even bur leather, bacon, wax, and lard, are not 
spared by them. A few species confine themselves 
to one description of food, but by far the greater 
number are less scrupulous of their diet, and de- 
vour almost every substance that comes in their 
way. Some of them are of social habits, and live 
in community together, under the shade of silken 
tents, spun by the parties in mutual concert; 
others are of solitary habits, and construct for 
themselves sheaths, which are sometimes fixed, 
and sometimes portable ; others again make their 
abode in the parenchyma of leaves, where they 
ingeniously form galleries for their accommodation. 
The most part of them are diurnal ; but there are 
several that are only seen at night. The severity 
of winter, so fatal to mo^t insects, does not seem 
to affect certain species of moths which appear 
during that season ; but the moths which so appear, 
at least in temperate climates, are not so strictly 
vegetable feeders, or so dependent on the season 
of growth, as the great majority of the lepidoptera. 
They are chiefiy those moths whose larvse feed 
upon dried substances, animal or vegetable ; and 
which, on this account, have no immediate or 
necessary connexion with the season of growth. 

Caterpillars generally change their skins four 
times previous to their passing into the state of 
nymph or pupa; most of them spin a cocoon, in 
which they inclose themselves. A liquor, which is 
frequently of a reddish colour, which lepidopterous 
insects eject at the moment of their metamorphosis, 
softens or weakens the cocoon, and facilitates their 
emancipation ; one of these extremities is generally 
thinner than the other, or presents a favourable 
issue by the peculiar disposition of the fibres. Other 



i^~7*v?l' 



245 WESLBT** PHII.0SOPHT. 

caterfMllart are contented with eonoectiiig lesteit 
particles of earth, or of the sabftaneea on wludi 
they have liyed, and thus forming a mde cocoon. 
The chrysalides of the diurnal lepidoptera are 
ornamented with golden yellow spots, they are hence 
called chrysalides; they are entirely naked, and 
fixed by the posterior extremity of the body* The 
pupee of the lepidoptera exhilxt a special charac- 
ter. They are swathed, and resemble mumnues. 
Several insects of this order, particularly of the 
diumaB, undergo their metamorphosis in a fern days ; 
and even frequently produce two generations in the 
course of the year. The caterpillars of others, 
however, remain during the winter in one of these 
states, and only appear as perfect insects in the 
spring or summer of the following year; and, 
generally speaking, the eggs laid in the fall are 
not hatched till the ensuing spring. The lepidoptera 
either come forth from their envelop in the usual 
manner, or through a slit in the back of the 
thorax. 

In the larva state> the moths are by far the most 
destructive of the lepidoptera ; and as they come 
abroad only in the twilight, or during the night, 
and fly softly, they are not so much under the con- 
trol of insectivorous birds, as the diurnal butterflies. 
Thus, their eggs are insinuated everywhere ; and, 
perhaps, there is not a bud in the forest, or a flower 
in the garden, in which the egg of one of those 
insects is not insinuated, ready to be awakened into 
a living destroyer, if any diseased action of the bud 
or the flower shall render this necessary in the 
economy of nature. 

11. Rhipiptera. This is a very limited order, 
they form two genera, and are parasitical in their. 



Dll>TERA. 1247 

'habits. In the larva state, they are found between 
the abdominal scales of several species of andre- 
nidae, and wasps of the subgenus polistes. They are 
remarkable for their anomalous form, and for their 
irregular habits. The wings of these insects are 
large, of membranous texture, and fold together 
longitudinally, in the manner of a fan. They are 
furnished with two false elytra, seemingly bestowed 
by nature for the purpose of enabling them to dis- 
engage themselves from between the abdominal 
scales of the insects which they infest. 

Altogether they are minute and obscure insects ; 
and their history furnishes little or nothing that 
can be in any way interesting to the general reader. 

12. Diptera, These, as their name imports, 
are insects having only two wings, but they have 
in addition two moveable bodies above the wings, 
which are called balancers. Their mouth is always 
formed into a sucker of some construction or other. 
Of course they are fitted only for living upon 
fluids ; but when the fluids on which they live are 
inclosed within vessels, or coverings of any kind, 
the sucker is provided with instruments like lances, 
by means of which they pierce the covering and 
drain the fluid. The external proboscis serves 
merely as a case and covering to the sucking instru- 
ments, and is thrown back when the other parts 
are in action. Some of them have, in addition to 
the balancers, two membranous valves placed above 
these, which are always larger in proportion as the 
balancers are less ; but the use of neither of these 
appendages is correctly known. The abdomen is 
often attached to the thorax by only a portion of 
its transverse diameter. It consists of rings, varying 
from five to nine ; and where the apparent number 



248 Wesley's philosopht. 

is small, the females usually have the remainiog 
rings formed into an ovipositor, which b withdrawn 
hy each piece sliding into the piece ahove it, unless 
when the animal is using it. 

Insects of this order are those which are more 
correctly called flies ; and the common house fly, 
which follows man in all his migrations over the 
world, and is at once an annoyance and a service 
to him, is a very familiar instance. Many of these 
flies are troublesome in a very high degree : some 
of them, by sucking the blood of man and domestic 
animals ; others by lodging their ^gs under the 
skin, or in the nostrils and other parts of animals, 
in which places the larvae cause inflammation and 
putrefaction, and, in some instances, mortal disease. 
Others of them deposit their eggs, or rather, 
perhaps, their young in the pupa state, upon the 
hair of domestic animals, and contrive to tickle the 
skin so as to make the animal lick it, by which 
operation the pupa is taken into the mouth, and so 
to some part of the alimentary canal, where it 
adheres and feeds until the time of undergoing its 
final transformation ; and then it makes its escape. 
It is understood, that all those species which are 
parasitical upon domestic animals in the early stages 
of their existence, live for some time in the ground 
before they come forth in the winged state. Other 
species of these insects attack provisions and grain, 
and others, in the larva state, consume the roots of 
vegetables, or the young leaves. But, notwithstand- 
ing all the annoyance which these insects occasion, 
they are, upon the whole, highly serviceable, by 
destroying noxious insects, consuming dead bodies 
^nd other putrifying substances which, in warm and 
^jfcumid countries especially, would taint the air, and 



SECTIONS OF DIPTERA. 249 

render it wholly unfit for the purposes of life. Thej 
also assist greatly in promoting the removal of 
stagnant water, and clearing it of those substances 
by which it is rendered offensive. 

All the species undergo a metamorphosis. Some 
cast their skin before they become pupae ; others 
spin cocoons ; but there are others which do 
not cast their covering, and, in these last, the 
covering becomes sufficiently firm for being a pupa 
case. In them there is a very remarkable meta- 
morphosis. As the animal begins to be detached 
from the case internally, the external parts which 
it possessed while in the larva state are left with 
the integument, and the living animal is merely 
a soft jelly-like mass, in which hardly any organi- 
zation can be traced. But this mass very speedily 
begins to show the lineaments of the future fly ; 
and when these come to maturity, it bursts the 
covering, and mounts into the air, in which the 
duration of many of the species is very brief. 

There are two distinct sections of this order of 
insects. In the first, the change of the larva to 
pupa always takes place external of the body of 
the mother, and in the other, and by much the 
smaller section, the young are bom in the pupa 
state. They are all parasites upon warm-blooded 
animals — ^mammalia and birds, and some of them 
are exceedingly troublesome ; though not so much 
so as some of the parasites which pass their larva 
state external of the mother. 

There are several families of them. The first 
consists of the gnats or musquitoes, and the crane- 
flies, which last get their name from the great 
length of their legs. Both* of these are very trou- 
blesome insects ; the first on account of the direct 



250 WKBLXT*ft PHILOSOPHY. 

annoyance which they offer to human bdiigi» hjr 
piercing the skin, sucking the blood, and often 
xKMsasioning, in moist and warm countnes espe- 
cially, the most intolerable annoyance. They are 
found in almost every climate, though in high lati- 
tudes they disappear during the winter months; 
but in the moist woods of such latitudes, they are 
more abundant and more intolerable, during the 
nightless weeks of the Polar summer, than they are 
•in countries of moderate temperature. In addhion 
to blood, which they can rarely obtain in propo^ 
tion to their numbers, they feed on the nectttr of 
flowers, and on yarious other juices. Their manners 
are not a little curious ; for they are aquatic un61 
they undergo their final transformation, but after- 
wards they liye in the air. 

The female deposits her eggs on the sur&ce of 
the water, and unites them in so symmetrical t 
manner that they form little boats, which float on 
the surface. The insects themselves can endure 
very intense cold ; and many of the females sur- 
vive the winters in concealment, and come abroad 
with the first warmth of the spring, to deposit their 
eggs in ponds and ditches. Though the larvae 
inhabit the water, and can dive and swim about 
with great rapidity, they breathe the air, and the 
breathing apparatus is at the posterior part of the 
body, which is generally furnished with feathery 
appendages. We shall have occasion to take some 
further notice of those singular creatures in the 
next section. 

The Tabani, or horse-flies, are well known from 
the annoyance they give to horses and cattle by 
piercing the sldu anS. ^vwiVwv^ ^^ \i\wid. They 
bear a good deal oi TeseTCk\>\Mv^^fc \.^^ax^^««^ ^\*^ 



CESTRI. 251 

common house species ; but their bodies are a little 
hairy, their head is as wide as the thorax, and 
almost the whole of the sides of it are occupied by 
two very large eyes, generally of a golden green 
colour, with beautiful reflections of purple, llie 
larvae live in the ground. They are long, cylindrical, 
and slender tow^s the head. The pupa spins no 
cocoon ; but when the time of its change comes, 
it rises to the surface, leaves its skin there, and 
mounts into the air a perfect tabanus, ready to per- 
form its blood-sucking operations. 

The CEstriy or gad-flies, are still more annoying 
to domestic animals than even the tabani. They 
resort to them for the purpose of depositing their 
eggs, and the larvae are parasitical upon the animals 
until they change into pupae. 

They resemble large flies, thickly covered with 
hairs, which often form bands of different colours. 
In the perfect state they are very rarely seen, the 
localities which they inhabit, and the times of their 
appearance, being both very limited. As the gad- 
flies generally, if not invariably, deposit their eggs 
on the bodies of various grazing animals, it is in 
the woods and pastures that they are to be found. 
Each kind of gad-fly generally selects the same 
species of animal on which to place its eggs ; and it 
always chooses that part of the body where the larvae 
can be most conveniently supplied with food. The 
horses, oxen, asses, deer, antelopes, camels, sheep, 
and hares, are the only animals which have been 
well ascertained to be subject to the annoyance of 
these parasites. This annoyance is very great ; for 
the sound of the fly will throw a whole herd of 
cattle into the utmost alarm, and make them. ^cdxsL- 
per about aa though they were 4eT«si^<fe^» *X>CiK^ 



T«-f 



252 wxslxt's philompht. 

inhabit three kinds of pboes-Ummediaiely under the 
•kin, in the frontal sinnsee, andin the intestinal otnd. 

'fhe ox gad-fly is more than half an inch lonn' 
▼ery hairy, with a yellow thorax crossed by a blade 
band. It always deposits its eggs upon healthy 
animals, and rarely upon such as are more than 
three years old* They aire usually situated neir 
the spine, where they form tumours, on the purulait 
matter of which the larv» feed. This species also 
sometimes attacks the horse ; but it is not under- 
stood very seriously to injure dther animaL 

The gad-flies of the sheep and the rein-deer, tnd 
also of dl the rest of the deer which are alfected by 
them, find their way to the frontal sinuses, and 
sometimes in such numbers, that, in the rein-deer 
especially, they occasion sickness and death in vast 
numbers of the animals ; and thus the Laplanders, 
whose rein-deer form the principal part of their 
wealth, look upon the gad-fly as one of their worst 
enemies. 

The horse gad-fly places her eggs on the legs 
and shoulders of horses ; and they lick the place^ 
and thereby convey the eggs to the stomach, where 
the larvae are considered as one species of hot 

The true flies, of which the common house fly, 
and the flesh fly, or blue bottle, are well known 
specimens, deposit their eggs in putrid matter in 
vast numbers, and the larvae, when hatched, very 
speedily consume those matters. In this way they 
contribute much to the cleanliness of the earth 
and the purity of the air, and, like other creatures, 
they are found in the greatest numbers in those 
places where there is the most need for them. 
Their larvee a\\ Te%etc^\^ %Wcl whitish worms 
irithout feet, ralYiet lYaOt wA \Jw»\. ^\. *^<^>KSfid)K:i 



PUPIFARA. 263 

extremity, and tapering towards the opposite one, 
the point of which is furnished with two hooks. 
They use these hooks for dividing those matters 
which they inhabit, and upon which they feed ; 
and by means of this division, the decomposition 
and dissipation of the putrid matter is greatly 
promoted. In the cess pools of farm yards and 
similar places, the rank mud is often literally filled 
with those larvae, which keep the surface in a state 
of constant motion, as if the mud itself were pos- 
sessed of life. 

The second section of two-winged insects bring 
forth their young in the state of pupae, which 
acquire a sort of firm crust, that is provided with 
a sort of operculum or lid at the one end, by 
raising which the perfect insect is enabled to make 
its escape. Some of these are possessed of wings, 
and others are without any. Both sorts are para- 
sitical upon other animals, and run sideways, often 
with great rapidity. They are sometimes called 
spider flies ; and all of them, but more especially 
the wingless ones, bear a considerable resemblance 
to spiders. 

. Such is a very brief and imperfect outline of the 
insect world, in which, almost more than in any 
other, the wonders of creative wisdom are displayed. 
We shall add a short chapter on the habits of a 
few of the species. 



256 WESLEY*8 PHILOSOPHY. 

set aside this notion; and though there is an apparent 
ahsence of generative organs in them, it is now 
ascertained that the neuters or mulesy as they have 
heen called, are females, whose sexual organization 
is in an undeveloped state. On this class depends 
all the laborious duties of the community. Tfaej 
explore the country in quest of every article of 
domestic use, which they assiduously gather and 
transport to the hive, and appropriate to the 
various purposes for which they are required ; they 
wait upon her sovereign majesty the queen, and 
throw their choicest treasures in her lap ; and thej 
also carry on the war offensive and defensive, when 
that becomes necessary. There is only one per- 
fect female in each hive. She is termed the queen, 
and her chief duties consist in the laying of egg^ 
and in commanding the swarm when it goes o£P on 
its periodical emigrations from the parent settlement 
In all her movements the queen is attended by a 
strong force of workers ; who are ever ready to 
supply all her wants, and to pay her the most 
devout attention and the most loyal homage. The 
influence the queen bee possesses over her numerous 
subjects is truly astonishing, and, were it not 
demonstrable by actual observation and experience, 
would look more like romance than matter of fact. 
It is ascertained beyond all question, that a hive 
without a queen cannot survive for any length of 
time. In her absence the occupation of the workers 
is at an end. They immediately become inactive, 
and they not only cease from labour, but also from 
taking their food ; and, consequently, soon cease to 
exist. In the animal kingdom, generally, the male 
is acknowledged to \i^ \)ttfe wO^et VK«^^, but in 
this species the oidex \s eom^^'w^-^ x«s^w^%Vst 



i 



HIVE BEES. 257 

the male bee or drone, as he is contemptuously 
called, is held to be the most ignoble individual of 
the race. The impregnation of the female is the 
only duty he is ever known to perform. He is a 
complete idler; and, as the sisterhood do not 
patronize sinecurists, as soon as he has accom- 
plished the purpose, for which alone he seems to 
have been created, he is laid hold of by the workers, 
dragged from the hive, and dispatched without 
ceremony. The drones are of larger size than 
the workers, and altogether have a more thick and 
clumsy appearance. They are not provided with a 
sting, which in some measure accounts for the appa- 
rent tameness and non-resistance with which they 
submit to their hard fate. The abdomen, which con- 
tains the male organs of generation, is less pointed 
than the female ; and the humming noise it makes 
in its flight is louder. The queen bee is the largest 
of the swarm, and she is easily distinguished from 
the others by having the abdomen of larger size, 
and more pointed at the extremity of the body : 
she is also provided with a sting. There is generally 
only one queen in a hive, and she is often the 
parent of many generations. The number of 
drones is at no time very great, seldom exceeding 
one to forty or fifty of the population, even in the 
spring, and when the time comes for the extermi- 
nation, they totally disappear; and at this time 
even the male larvae and pupae are entirely de- 
stroyed by the workers, so that no trace of the 
drones is left behind. The population of a hive is 
very various, being sometimes only a few thou- 
sands ; and at other times not less, perhaps, than 
fifty or sixty thousand. Besides V)dl<^ Q^%e^\)RA^ 

VOL. II, s 



258 Wesley's philosophy. 

the worker, and the drone, there appear to be two 
descriptions of females. The difference in them is, 
that the one is of a considerably larger growth 
than the other; but Reaumur accounts for this 
difference by ascribing it to the state of the ^gs 
in the body. There is also another^ kind of males, 
not larger than the workers, which are believed to 
be produced from a male egg laid in the workers' 
cell. According to Huber, there are likewise two 
sorts of workers ; the first he denominates dri^res, 
wax-makers, as the collecting of food and secretion 
of materials for the building of the nest, are their 
duties; the second, which he calls nourrices, w 
nurses, are smaller and more weakly, whose office it 
is to attend to the rearing of the yomig, and the 
other domestic concerns of the colony. The same 
author likewise notices another kind of individuals, 
which he calls black bees. They do not appear to 
be fixed settlers in the hive, and they are, conse- 
quently, liable to share the fate of the drones on the 
slightest emergency. They do not differ from the 
workers in any respect, except in having the head 
and thorax of a darker shade; and Kirby and 
Spence hinted that these black bees may be super- 
annuated workers, which, having lost some hairs 
from off their bodies, and being unfit for taking 
part in the labours of the nest, are banished by 
the younger members. 

In order to ascertain the number of bees that could 
be contained in a certain space, Mr. Hunter filled 
a pint pot with drowned ones, and then counted 
them out, and found the number to be 2160; 
and Reaumur, "by Yiev^Vvm^ ^. c^antity, ascertained 
that one ounce vie\g^\. CiOu\a3ccL^^^^\«ft».* 



RIVE BEES. 259 

The food of bees consists chiefly of the fluid 
secretions of vegetables, contained in the nectaria 
of flowers, and pollen, or the dust of the antherae. 
This latter substance is also called bee-bread, 
farina, raw wax, &c They are also found to feed 
occasionally on honey-dew, sugar, treacle, and other 
' sweet substances. 

One peculiarly striking characteristic in the 
natural history of the bee is, that the determining 
of the sex of the young depends entirely on the 
treatment the eggs receive in the operation of 
hatching. The eggs, to all appearance, are exactly 
alike when dropped by the female, whatever the 
character of the being they are to produce may 
be ; and it is at the option of the workers or nurses 
to determine, as occasion requires, whether the 
progeny shall consist of a greater or smaller num- 
ber of queens, labourers, or drones. This is effected 
by placing the eggs in the different cells, and 
nourishing and attending to them in different ways. 

The organs employed in the collection of their 
food, are fitted for the division of solid substances, 
and also for the reception of liquid aliment. Like 
all other hymenopterous insects, they are provided 
with a long and flexible proboscis, or trunk. This 
organ may be said to be a lengthened tongue, but 
it is perhaps better denominated by being termed 
a continuation of the under lip. Until the days of 
Reaumur, this instrument was described as a tubu- 
lar trunk, through which the animal sucked up its 
aliment ; but that naturalist has clearly proved that 
it is merely used as a tongue by which the food is 
licked up ; and that the applicatioii oi ^\i^ "^"axN. ^ 
the member is equally efficient iox V!t»a YM:^Q«>fe% 
which could not have been tiie c»ae "V^ '^\i«»^ 

s 2 



260 WB8LKY*8 PHILOftOPHT. 

constructed in a tubular fomiy wbioh necosBirily 
would have had its opening or moodi at the outer 
•xtremity. From the constructioii of a pedicle 
which supports this trunk, it is susceptible of con- 
traction and extension ; it is guarded by a double 
sheath. The external sheath is form^ of two 
scales, ' which are furnished by . a portion of the 
labial palpi, and the internal one is fbnned by the 
extension of the outer portions of the jaws* Bees 
are furnished with two stout mandibleB and four 
palpi, which are more commonly used by the ani- 
mal in breaking hard substances than in. eating its 
food. These organs are larger in the worUog bees 
than in the others. like the jaws of other insects, 
those of the bee play horizontally ; they are fur- 
nished with two sharpened teeth, formed of con- 
cave scales. Reaumur points out an aperture 
above the root of the proboscis, which he con- 
ceives to be the mouth of the gullet, and imme- 
diately above this orifice is a small, sharp-pointed, 
fleshy organ, which he considers to be the tongue, 
which assists in the swallowing of the food. La- 
treille, however, is of opinion, that no such aper- 
ture exists, and that the aliment is simply con- 
veyed into the stomach by the sides of the tongue. 
It has two stomachs, the first of which is rather 
capacious. It is formed of a membranous sub- 
stance, quite transparent, shaped sharp in the fore 
part, and swelling out behind in the form of two 
bags or pouches. This first stomach serves a 
somewhat similar purpose to the crop of birds. 
It retains the fluid of the nectaria for a consider- 
able time ; but \t doe^ tl^I «.^^^r that any sub- 
stance undergoes an^ ^^^^^^^ ^^asj^Jw^^^fwswwji 
bj being placed in \t ; wxd ^^ "^ ^'^R^^^ 



USE OF BEES. 361 

struction of this depository, the animal is enabled 
to bring back its contents to the mouth, so that 
they may either be deposited in the cells of the 
hive or distributed to other individuals. The 
second stomach is of a cylindrical shape, is placed 
in conjunction with the middle of the posterior end 
of the former, and serves the purpose of digestion. 
Communication is obtained by an inverted pylorus, 
which conveys the food to the stomach by a very 
minute aperture in its centre. At the entrance 
from the first to the second stomach there is a 
valve which opens inwardly. This valve prevents 
the possibility of regurgitation from the former to 
the latter. 

By means of a brush of hair which grows on the 
tarsi, the working bees collect the pollen of flowers, 
which they knead together into a lump, and place 
it in what is termed their basket^ which is situated 
at the middle joint of the hind legs. Surrounding 
the basket, there are rows of hairs which prevent 
the load from falling off. In addition to the brush 
on the tarsi, as a means of collecting pollen, the 
bees are sometimes observed to roll their whole 
body on the flower for the same purpose, and then 
carefully to brush it off with their feet, and knead 
it into balls, and carry it off, as above described. 
As, in order to get at the pollen, the bees are oilen 
obliged to tear open the capsules of the flower, and 
as the tenants of one hive alone will often carry off 
not less than one pound of this fecundating sub- 
stance, some agriculturists have been apprehen- 
sive that the vegetation of various plants might be 
seriously injured by this robbery ; and in conse- 
quence of this apprehended danger \iftfe%\ka;N^\««». 
exterminated in some distriLCls. ^uX. ^v^ ^^"^^^ 



262 Wesley's philosophy. 

hension has not only been shown to be entirely 
groundless, but that the labours of the bee rather 
tend to promote vegetation than otherwise. They 
not only agitate the flower, thereby diffusing the 
germinating principle over the stigma; but it is 
also to the labour of the bee that we owe the exist* 
ence of the many hybrid flowers that are met with 
in its range. 

Bees consume a large quantity of water, conse- 
quently they require a plentiful supply to keep 
them in a healthy state ; and, what is rather remark- 
able, they will take it in a putrid state, in prefer- 
ence to the purest stream. 

It was long the opinion that pollen required 
only the application of a certain pressure, and a 
sort of kneading by the feet of bees, to convert it 
info wax; but it has since been proved by the 
researches of the naturalist, that it is a secretion 
from the abdomen of the bee, and that it does not 
in any degree depend on the pollen which the 
insect may consume, but on the quantity of honey 
or other saccharine matter which it receives into 
its stomach. It was the opinion of Wilbelmina, so 
far back as 1768, that wax, instead of being re- 
jected by the mouth, exudes from the rings which 
inclose the posterior part of the body : and Huber 
has clearly proved by a series of experiments, which 
places the question beyond dispute, that, in a state 
of nature, the quantity of wax secreted is exactly 
in proportion to the honey which is consumed. 
He has further shown that an equal or even a 
greater quantity will be produced, provided the 
bee is fed on a solution of sugar and water. 

It is the honey collected by the bee, however, 
which is the most valuable part of the economy of 



CRUELTY TO BEES. 263 

that industrious little creature, and we cannot find 
a more forcible expression for the value of this 
honey, than the description of the land of Canaan, as 
held out to the children of Israel — <* a land flowing 
with milk and honey«*' The first of these, *^ flowing 
with milk," is finely descriptive of the productions 
of the plains and valleys ; and the second, *< flowing 
with honey," is equally expressive of the great fer- 
tility of the rocks, the wild woods, and the wilder- 
ness itself; for in such climates as that of Judea, 
these are the places where wild bees, which 
are social, and in numerous swarms in those coun- 
tries, as the domesticated bees are with us, chiefly - 
fix their habitations : the hollow of a tree serves 
them for a hive ; and the wild flowers of the uncul- 
tivated places are their finest pastures. 

The usual practice of obtaining honey from 
domestic bees was one of great, and, as it should 
seem, wanton and unnecessary cruelty ; the little 
creatures, after they had toiled throughout the 
whole season, were not only deprived of all the 
winter store which they had accumulated, but they 
were smoked with sulphur in the hive^ by means 
of which both old and young were entirely cut off. 
There is a degree of unfeeling cruelty in this at 
which the mind revolts ; because, though all crea- 
tures are in some way or other adapted for the use 
of man, the destruction of the creatures is no part 
of man's legitimate occupation. He has, undoubt- 
edly, a right to his share of every production of 
the earth, which can, in any way, contribute to his 
comfort ; but it is his duty, and his interest, to take 
that share in wisdom, not in wantonness ; and he 
could, upon every occasion, so manage matters, as 
that the quantity which he takes might benefit that 



S64 wuLST^s PBiXiOmvtaY. 

which if kft; and iliiis» while he irnm^ he iw|^ 
ameiionte and unprove all that grows and lifei 
around hun; and so be the adonierof creationt 
and not the des tr oyer* . 

Many plans have been resorted to for the pi^ 
senration of beesy and the leaving of as much hooey 
as shall support them during & winter* One it 
the most recent, and perhaps the best of these* is 
that introduced by Mr. Nntt, a ealtivalor of bees 
in Lincolnshire. In this method, three boies 
are placed together, with a door for entrance in 
the central box only, but with a communication 
between it and each ik the lateral ones. B j means 
of ventilation, the two side boxes are kept at a 
heat which is well adapted for labouring beira ; but 
below that at which the young are hatched. The 
bees are placed at first in the central box only ; 
and when the first swarm of the season is produced^ 
and would depart, admission is given to one of the 
side boxes ; and when that is filled, similar admis- 
sion is given into the other. The temperature of 
these is regulated by means of ventilators ; and 
when it is ascertained that one of them is full, as 
much ventilation is given to it as drives all the 
bees into the central box, the communication 
between them is closed, and the box is removed 
without the destruction of a single bee. 

This is not the only advantage which is gained ; 
for the honey is purer, and altogether of superior 
quality. The low temperature of the side-boxes 
not only prevents a queen bee from taking up her 
abode in them, but none of the eggs, the young, or 
the substances required for their nourishment in 
the larva state, are ever deposited in those boxes, 
"^hus they contain only honey-cells and honey ; 



DR. bevan's flan*. 265 

and as those cells are constructed only as they are 
required, the combs are always full. This method 
appears to Ailfil many of the conditions which are 
desirable for the proper management of bees ; and 
which are thus stated by Dr. Bevan : — 

*< First, an economical division of labour, which 
causes a larger quantity of wax and honey to be 
collected, than if the bees were to swarm, and to 
carry on their operations in separate families. 

** Secondly, the facility with which the bees may 
be deprived of a considerable portion of their 
honey, without destroying their lives, or communi- 
cating to the honey any unpleasant flavour from ' 
the sulphurous gas. 

" Thirdly, the power which is afforded to the 
bees, of employing themselves usefully in wet 
weather. 

<< Fourthly, the saving of that time which is 
unnecessarily spent in the construction of the fresh 
combs in the new habitation, at a period of the 
year, it may be observed, when nature is most 
lavish of her flowers for the development of their 
sweets. 

" Fifthly, the saving of time usually lost in the 
preparations for swarming, when the bees hang 
inactively in clusters on the outsides of the hives 
for many days, sometimes for weeks, particularly if 
the weather prove favourable." 

By this means, from one swarm of bees, culti- 
vated for five years, Mr. Nutt obtained 737 pounds 
of honey, and left 712 pounds during the currency 
of the time for the maintenance of the bees, the 
increase of which was regularly progressive during 
the whole time which, from its superior quality, 
would be worth fourteen guineas on the average of 



266 WBSLST*S PHILOtOPHT. 

eveiy jMr^ bendes tho cspeDse of briiigiiig it w 
market. There are very man j aitaations m tUs '■ 
country, where every cottager migfat eoHivate one 
soch establishment of bees, the profits €i which 
wonld suffice to furnish himself and hb finnily wOk 
comfortable clothing, and also to rqilaoe Htm 
household ftimiture* 

Assisted by the ii^pe nuity c^ man, bees may 
be enabled to produce a greater quanti^, and also 
a finer quality, of their usefol commodi^, than in 
a state of nature; but in Uiis state they are per* 
fectly adequate to supply to prolusion all tfadr own 
wants. They are toUdly independent of the assist* 
ance of human artifice in the construction of their 
habitation ; for, in the hollow of a tree, or other 
cavity that is presented by nature, they can erect 
their miniature cily, and devise and construct its 
complicated architecture, on the most perfect geo- 
metrical principles, and the most symmetrical plan. 
And when we consider the order and social union, 
which characterize - the govemment of the hive, 
although we may not positively affirm that, in their 
wonderful operations, bees are guided by what is 
termed instinct, yet we may venture to say, that 
they are endowed with wisdom and foresight, sur- 
passing anything hitherto observed in any other 
class of insects. 

When a new place for their nest is fixed on by a 
colony of bees, the first duty of the workers is to 
have it properly cleaned out ; and whilst one party 
is engaged in doing this, another is sent to scour 
the country in quest of propolis, a species of glu- 
tinous matter, of a . resinous, tenacious quality, 
derived chiefly from the wild poplar, for laying the 
foundation of the new abode, and for stopping up 



LABOURS IN THE HIVE. 267 

any crevice, tliat may appear in it. These pre- 
parations made, they next proceed to construct the 
combs to receive the eggs which the queen bee is 
about to lay. Wax is the substance of which these 
are constructed, and to procure the requisite supply 
the hive is actively astir, collecting honey, which 
they bring home and impart to the housekeepers, 
who, having filled their crops, hang together in 
clusters from the roof of the hive, in a state of 
inactivity for a considerable time, during which 
the process of secretion is going forward; and, 
when the necessary quantity is produced, the 
building is commenced. The combs very generally 
occupy the whole extent of the hive. They are 
placed in parallel and vertical layers, of about an 
inch in thickness. The space between the surfaces 
of each of these layers is about half an inch, and 
this forms a passage for the bees over both surfaces. 
The combs consist of thin partitions, which inclose 
hexagonal cells, in dimensions about half an inch 
deep, and a quarter of an inch in diameter ; they 
are open on both surfaces of the comb, and closed 
by a partition, composed of a collection of rhombs, 
which occupy the middle space between the combs, 
and is common to both sides. In the constructing 
of the combs, the greatest attention is paid to the 
economising of matter and space, and in this par- 
ticular the bee-hive presents a paragon of per- 
fection, inimitable in the whole scope of human 
experience. 

A sufficient number of cells having been con- 
structed, the deposition of the eggs commences. 

The method of doing this has been more care- 
fully observed by Mr. Jesse than by almost any 
other individual, and it is so well described by him 



in his delightful Gleamngs in Natural II]ilonr» tint* 
we cannot resist quoting the passage :— ^ I have,** 
says Mr. Jesse, *^ some experimental hiveay wUbh 
enable me yery accurately to inspect the operations 
of my bees. From the construction of tiie hives, 
the combs are necessarily built between two panes 
of glass, so that on drawing the sliders the t?ro 
8U]^u:es of a comb are exposed to ^w. In thk 
way I am able to see almost eyery thing that is 
going forward. 

<< When the queen bee has an inclination to d^ 
posit her eggs, she goes forth, accompanied by six 
or eight working bees as a guard, and whoee sto- 
machs are filled with honey. She is yery deliberate 
in her motions, and seems to prooeed with grest 
caution. She first looks into a cell, and if she 
finds it perfectly empty, she draws up her long 
body, inserts her tail into the cell, and deposits an 
egg. In this way she slowly proceeds, till she 
has dropped ten or twelve eggs, when, perhaps 
feeling exhausted, she is fed by one of the attendant 
bees, who have attended her for the whole time. 
This is done by the bee ejecting the honey from 
its stomach into the mouth of the queen. When 
this has been done the bee goes away, and another 
takes its place. The operation of laying her ^gs 
again goes on, and is succeeded by the same mode 
of feeding — ^the attendant bees frequently touching 
the antennae of the queen with their own. When 
the operation of laying the eggs is completed, and 
it generally occupies some time, the queen retires 
to that part of the hive which is most filled vrith 
bees. During her progress, the surface of the 
comb is very little intruded upon, and the space 
seems purposely to be left unoccujaed* Some few 



MR. Jesse's observations. 269 

of the cells, however, of a brood comb, are passed 
over by the queen, and are afterwards filled either 
with honey or farina. These serve as deposits of 
food, from which the neighbouring brood may be 
fed more readily, as such cells are never covered 
with wax. 

*' With the hives alluded to I have been able to 
follow many of Ruber's experiments, and can bear 
witness to his general accuracy, except in regard to 
the fecundation of the queen bee. I have bestowed 
much time and pains in endeavouring to discover 
any of the circumstances he mentions relating to 
this fact, but without success. Neither have I 
ever seen a cell visited by one of the drones after 
the eg^ had been deposited, which a modem writer 
has asserted they do. I have for many years 
watched my hives with the greatest assiduity, but 
have never seen the queen bee leave the hive, 
except at the time of swarming. I have also 
spoken to several experienced bee masters on the 
subject, and they are of the same opinion with 
myself — that she never quits it. Her person is 
so easily distinguished from the other bees, by any 
one at all conversant with them, that, if the queen 
absented herself from the hive, in the way Huber 
describes her as doing, it seems next to impossible 
that she should not have been perceived, either on 
her departure from, or on her return to, the hive. 
And yet we have an English writer on bees (and we 
have many acute and observant ones) who has even 
hinted at the probability of the queen's leaving the 
hive in the manner Huber asserts that she does. 
It is now many years since his work was published, 
and no part of it is more curious or more satisfac- 
tory, if correct, than what he says of the impreg- 



272 Wesley's philosophy. 

When the old queen quits the hive at the head 
of the first swarm, the young queens are released 
from their cells in succession, and as swarm after 
swarm leaves the hive, they mount their thrones in 
the same order, and, what is very remarkahle, no 
sooner has one of these haby monarchs ascended 
the throne, than she instantly uses her utmost 
endeavours to exterminate every rival within her 
reach ; and, but for the vigilance of their guards, 
the last one of the young princesses would be mas- 
sacred by her. The number of swarms sent off 
from a hive, in a summer, in this country, seldom 
exceeds three ; and, as the swarming depends on 
the increase of population, it is of course regulated 
in a great measure by the supply of food, and the 
warmth of the climate within the bees' range. 

The drones do not accompany the swarms in 
great numbers. They are suffered to loiter about 
the hive, till they have accomplished the duty of 
impregnation ; but, when this is done, and no new 
swarms anticipated, they are set upon by the workers, 
and exterminated without mercy; and their eggs and 
larvaj are also totally destroyed at the same timeliest 
a single trace of a drone might remain. Should it 
so happen, however, that a hive is without a queen, 
the drones are allowed to live for a whole winter. 

After the extermination of the drones, the bees 
occupy the remainder of the summer in gathering 
food for the coming winter, and every species of 
plant that offers the slightest nutriment is explored 
and robbed of its sweets ; and after the flowers 
have ceased to supply the requisite demand, the 
neighbouring hives are assailed and plundered, 
should the assailant be the stronger party. In this 
species of warfare, both in the attack and in the 



FRUITFULNESS OF BEES. 273 

defence, the most consummate generalship is mani- 
fested, and the utter extirpation of whole hives is 
frequently its consequence. The bees of different 
hives often join in marauding parties, and in these 
cases a fair scheme of division is inv ariably 
observed in sharing the plunder. 

At the end of autumn, the out-door labours of 
the bee terminate, and they then feed on their well- 
garnered store till the severity of the weather 
reduces them to a state of torpidity : from which 
they are aroused by the genial warmth of the 
ensuing spring, when they again resume their toils. 
Should it so happen that any of them are allured 
from the hive by the tempting rays of a winter's 
sun, they very quickly pay the forfeiture of their 
life for such temerity. 

It is not easy to guess at the average duration 
of the life of the bee ; but it is generally believed, 
that it does not extend beyond one year. They are 
very liable to casualties, which greatly tend to 
reduce their number. The fruitfulness of the queen- 
bee is very remarkable ; for it has been ascertained 
by counting the number of mature bees and larvae, 
that, in some of the warmer parts of £urope, a 
single individual will produce not fewer than from 
thirty thousand to sixty thousand eggs ; and it has 
been proved by Huber, that a single impregnation 
of the male is sufficient for the fecundation of all 
the eggs which are laid by a queen in two years ; 
and from this, it is probable that one single act 
is sufficient to produce an equal effect on all 
the eggs that might be produced by the same female, 
though her life might extend for many years. From 
the care which the bees take to have successive 
queens always in progress, and also from their being 

VOL. u. T 



■ «l • 



'S74 weslvt's phuosopht.^ 

drones produced as part of every saeeeaamii 
whedier it be necessary lor that sw^rm to qn 
bive or not, it is Ingmj probable thai the q\ 
after thdr one excessive prodiietioiiy may not b 
to bear another. Hiisy however. Is a point 
which we have no predse information. 

Bees sometimes take up their habttatio 
atrange places, even in this country, though i 
frequency as in warmer cHroates, where thi 
more abundant Samson's riddle to the Philii 
respecting the wild bees which he had found f 
up their abode in the carcass of the lion; 
remarkable instance; but by no means an i 
bable one. One of the most remarkable pla 
which we have seen the common hive-bee dw 
in large multitudes, and comparatively in a st 
natural freedom and security, was in a larg 
curious sundial which stands in front of the 
of Glamis, in Strathmore, Forfarshire. The < 
built of a great number of stones ; and the 
and styles for showing the hours upon it, are a 
countless. The place was neglected at the 
alluded to, in consequence of the long absei 
the proprietor ; and the stones composing the 
part of the dial had opened into large fissui 
their sides, though they were closer at the 
and the openings there filled up by earth and 
plants, which formed a sort of roof. The da 
warm and sunny, and the country around 
flowery ; and we observed the bees departin 
arriving, in currents and counter-currents, a 
solid, in the immediate vicinity of all th 
sures of the so\il\i^n\ %\dft^ axvd forming a ^ 
cloud at the distaxve^ oi «>. ^wA^skscoc^ ^^c^ 
doubt many instance* Vv?^ ^^^\w^^ \\ 



ANTS. 275 

their habitations have been still more singular than 
this ; and these things show how ready the bee is 
to come near the dwelling of man, while what has 
been formerly mentioned proves how valuable it 
might be rendered by proper care. The encou* 
ragement of bees necessarily involves the cul- 
ture of flowers ; and thus, while it enriches, it also 
adorns. 

The Anty even as it appears in this country, and 
without reference to the countless myriads that are 
found in tropical climates, some of which are ants, 
and some not, though they all go by that name, is 
another singularly interesting instructive insect, 
from the labour which it performs, and its strength 
and assiduity in performing that labour. Ants, 
like other insects, are produced from eggs, which 
are hatched into small larvse that are without feet. 
These larvae change into large white pupse, and are 
vulgarly called ants' eggs ; though they are much 
larger than the ants themselves. They are not 
eggs, however, for they are the second stage of 
the ant, after the egg. In our notice of the ant, 
we shall not detain the reader with any lengthened 
narration of the many fanciful notions and marvel- 
lous transactions that have been recorded of them, 
such as their being guided in their motions by the 
phases of the moon ; of their dimensions, in the 
northern parts of India, being as large as Egyptian 
wolves ; and of their winter's occupation being 
that of digging up gold from the bowels of the 
earth, with the apparent view of enriching the 
natives of their immediate locality. Even in later 
times than when these notions were elitArtA.\^^ft,4^ 
verjr erroneous ones have been )^xotbx\^\&^ 
regarding these little insects ; at\i \Xve\t ^tQN\^«oX 

T 2 



276 Wesley's philosophy. 

habits, — though they must be admitted to be a pro- 
vident class, have been very much exaggerated. The 
doctrine that their larvae resembled grains of 
com, and that these were laid up in store to sup- 
ply their winter's keep, has been unceremoniously 
exposed by Dr. King and others, who have 
observed the successive changes of the larva from 
the egg to the perfect insect. 

Like a vast number of other species of hymen- 
opterous insects, ants^ possess what may be termed 
three sexes, — namely males, females, and neuters. 
The neuters have the complete form of the perfect 
females in every respect, except that they want the 
wings ; and, on minute examination, they are found, 
like the labouring bees, to be unprovided with per- 
fect sexual organs. Like the same description of 
individuals in the bee-hive, they perform all the 
laborious duties of the colony. 

The economy and domestic policy of the ant, of 
which there are numerous species, have formed the 
subject of many treatises ; but that by Huber, on 
those inhabiting the vicinity of Geneva and else- 
where, has, perhaps, thrown more light on their 
natural history than any thing yet published on 
this department of entomology. This industrious 
naturalist contrived an apparatus, by means of 
which the inmost recesses of the ants' nest could be 
viewed, and their most minute operations observed ; 
and the results of his labours, as given in his work, 
are of a peculiarly interesting and instructive cha- 
racter. 

Male ants have four wings and three lucid points 
on their head, and VXvevx e^^^ ^x^ larger than those 
of the females ot \a\io\3LTCt^. T^^^ ^^\sr^\^\j!^^ 
in the nests at a\\ sea^o^^,^>^l^. ^^1 ^\. TgwJCva^^^ 



HABITS OF ANTS. 277 

times. It seems they are killed (like drone bees) 
as soon as the season for impregnating the females 
is over. 

The body of the female is larger and thicker 
than that of the male, or labourer; and contains a 
great number of eggs, placed in regular lines. She 
has also the three lucid points on her head, which 
seem to be three eyes. 

The ant, examined by the microscope, appears a 
very beautiful creature. Its head is adorned with 
two horns, each having twelve joints. Its jaws are 
indented with seven little teeth, which exactly tally. 
They open sideways exceedingly wide, by which 
means llie ant is often seen grasping and carrying 
away bodies of three times its own bulk. It is 
naturally divided into the head, the trunk, and the 
belly, each joined to the other by a slender liga- 
ment. From the trunk proceed three legs on each 
side. The whole body is cased over with a sort 
of armour, so hard as scarcely to be penetrated 
by a lancet, and thickly set with shining, whitish 
bristles. 

They bring out their young every day, and spread 
them near their nest^ in little heaps, on a kind of 
dry earth, provided for that purpose. They carry 
them back at night. But it is observed, they never 
bring them out unless in a day that promises to be 
fair. In the prognosticating of this they show 
great sagacity. Where it is dangerous to expose 
them in the day time, by reason of the birds, they 
vary their rule by bringing them out in the night, 
and carrying them back in the morning. 

They do not eat at all in winter, but remain dot- 

mant, as is the case with moat otYiet ixvafecXa* 'W^t^i 

is a straight passage into ever^ aaX.'i xvesX, ^^^^ 



278 WESLEY*S PHILOSOPHY. 

half an inch deep ; after which it goes sloping into 
their magazine ; which is a different place from 
that where they eat and rest. Over the entrance 
to the nest they place a covering to protect them 
from the rain. In a fair day, this entrance is left 
open ; but when they foresee that it will rain, and 
every night, the covering is drawn over, with great 
ingenuity ^ well as labour. A host of the strongest 
of them surround the covering, and draw and shove 
in concert ; and the same pains are taken every 
morning to thrust it back. 

They are prohibited on pain of death from visit- 
ing any other nest but their own ; and consequently 
there are few instances where this hazard is run. 

They do no^ bite, as is vulgarly supposed ; but 
red ants have a sting, which emits a corrosive 
liquor, that raises a slight inflammation. The black 
ants have no sting. 

On opening an ant-hill, a great quantity of eggs 
is usually found. They look like the scatterings 
of fine salt, and are too minute to be seen dis- 
tinctly by the naked eye. Through a microscope 
they appear like the eggs of small birds, and are 
as transparent as the air-bladder of fishes. They 
lie in clusters under cover of some light earth ; and 
the ants seem to brood over them, till every granule 
is hatched into larvae, not much larger than a mite. 
In a short time these turn yellowish and hairy, and 
grow nearly as large as their parent. They then 
get a whitish film over them, and are of an oval 
form. If this cover be opened after some days, all 
the lineaments of an ant may be traced ; though 
the whole is transparent, except the eyes, which are 
two dark specks. 

The care these creatures take of their young is 



HABITS OF Ants. • 279 

• 

amazing. Whenever a hill is disturbed, all the 
ants are found busy, in consulting the safety, not 
of themselves, but of their offspring. They carry 
them out of sight as soon as possible ; and will do 
it over and over again, as often as they are dis- 
turbed. They carry the eggs and larvaB together 
in their haste ; but as soon as the danger is over, 
they carefully separate them, and place each by 
themselves, under shelter of different kinds, and at 
various depths, according to the different degrees 
of warmth which their different states require. 

Every morning, during the summer, they bring 
up the pupae near the surface of the eartlu And 
from ten in the morning till about five in the after- 
noon, they may be found just under the surface ; 
but if you search at eight in the evening, they 
will be found to have been carried deeper down ; 
and if rainy weather is apprehended, they lodge 
them at least a foot deep. 

Though ants unite in colonies, in such places as 
are agreeable to their different natures, yet they 
often vary their residence ; but the several species 
never intermix, though they are good neighbours 
one to another. 

Their architecture is adjusted with remarkable 
art. The whole structure is divided into nume- 
rous cells, communicating with each other by small 
subterraneous channels, which are smooth and cir- 
cular. They carry on all their works by means of 
their double saws, and the hooks at the extremity 
of them. 

A colony, from the latter end of August to the 
beginning of June, consists of a female, and various 
companies of workers : and besides these, in the 



■" *■■." ';^->^T^' " ' ■ ' 



letter pirt of JoM^ dl Jol^y and put «f A^pBl» of- 
a nmnbw of wli^od OBta* - 

The kbonring snti, bong of do w&gf on whoU j 
employed in providiiig foot the yiiiBg'».wliidi the 
qoeen depooto in the eeDsi la wkimx vpurt- 
ment ghe it pf eecnl^ md f e m l joy ii iha w u . They 
have a partjimlar way of ikinpiBgy leqang* pmieingv 
and standing on thenrUnd lege. Scioiainuk gently 
over her, ouen danoe loand her, and all are eager 
to expreia their kyatar and alsetioD. An iHiu- 
tration of thii race wu be aeon by pheing iha 
queen and her ratinne nnder a gbwu 

The mieen kys three diffarant torta of eggSt 
male and female^ in qning, .aaid neoter in Jdy 
and part of Angnat. TSb coomioa ants then 
brood oyer them in lifctle ehisterg, and remore 
them to and firo, in order to obtain the requisite 
degree of temperatore. The yomig disengage 
themselves from the membranes that enclose the 
eggs, just as the silkworms do. The female eggs 
put on the form of worms some time in February ; 
the male, by the latter end of March ; the neuters 
by September. The first summer they grow little, 
and still less in winter. By the beginning of 
April the second year, they visibly increase every 
day. By the end of May the nude and female 
attain their full growth, and are ready for another 
change. This long continuance of ants in the 
larva state fs peculiar to no other class of insects. 
The larvaB in a few days infold themselves in a soft 
silken covering, and assume the form of pup89, 
which are commonly mistaken for ants' eggs. As 
soon as they exhibit symptoms of life> the workers 
give them air, by an aperture in the end of the. 



ANTS. 281 

coveriDg, which they gradually enlarge for a day 
or two, and then take out the young. 

There is a larger and a smaller sort of winged 
ants. The latter is the male, and the former the 
female. Those females which escape being de- 
voured by other creatures become queens, and give 
birth to new colonies. 

In all other insects the loss of their wings les- 
sens their beauty, and shortens their lives. But 
ants gain by this loss — as it is a prelude to their 
ascending the throne. 

The young are fed by the juices of most sorts 
of fruits, which the labourers extract and receive 
into their own stomachs, where they are prepared, 
and afterwards transfused into the tender larvae. 

Perhaps in warm climates, ants do not pass the 
winter in sleep, as they do with us. If so, they 
need a store of food, which in our climate is quite 
needless. Accordingly, those who have accurately 
examined their most numerous settlements could 
never find out any reservoir of com or other ali- 
ments. And those who have care^lly observed 
their excujsions from, and their return to, their 
colonies, could never observe that they returned 
with any wheat com, or any other vegetable food, 
though they would eagerly attack a pot of honey, 
or a jar of sweetmeats. 

Bui is it not said, Prov. vi. 8, " Sheprovideth her 
meat in the summer ^ and gathereth her food in the 
harvest 9 " It is : but this does not necessarily 
mean any more, than that she collects her food in 
the proper season. Nor is any thing more declared, 
ch. XXX. 25, than that ants carry food into their 
repositories. That they do this against winter, is 
not said : neither is it true in fact. 



282 W£SL1Y*1 FHILOSOPHT. 

In Englandy aitt-bills are formed with but Utile 
apparent regidaritjr* In the southern prorinoei 
of Europe, they are oonstmcted with wonderful 
contrivance, 'fhey are generally formed in the 
neighbourhood of some laige tree and a stream of 
water. The one is the proper place for getting 
food; the other for supplying the animals wi£ 
moisture, which they cannot well disipense wi^ 
The shape of the ant-hill is that of a sagar*loa( 
about three feet high, composed of Taiions sub- 
stances ; such as the leaves of plants, bits of wood, 
sand, earth, particles of gam, and grains of coinu 
These are all united into a compact body, perforated 
with galleries down to the bottom, and along the 
winding paths within the structure* From Hai 
retreat to the water, as well as to the tree, in dif- 
ferent directions, there are many roads formed by 
constant assiduity, and along these the busy insects 
pass and repass continually ; so that from May or 
the Beginning of June they work continually till 
the bad weather comes on. 

The chief employment of working ants is in 
finding a sulEciency of food. They Jive upon 
various provisions, as well of the vegetable as the 
animal kind. Small insects they kill and devour ; 
sweets of all kinds they are particularly fond of. 
Having found a juicy fruit, they swallow what they 
can, and then tearing it in pieces carry home their 
load ; but they seldom think of the wants of their 
community till they have gorged themselves to 
satiety. If they meet with an insect above their 
match, several of them will fall upon it at once, and 
having torn it in pieces, each will carry off a part 
of the spoil. If they meet with any thing that is 
too heavy for one to bear, and yet which they are 



ANTS. 283 

unable to divide, several of them endeavour to 
force it along, some dragging, others pushing. If 
any one of them makes a lucky discovery, it imme- 
diately gives advice to others, and then at once the 
whole republic put themselves in motion. If in 
these struggles one of them happens to be killed, 
some survivor carries him ofif to a great distance, 
to prevent the obstructions his body might give to 
the general spirit of industry. 

In autumn they prepare for the severity of the 
v^inter, and bury their wheat as deep in the earth 
as they can. It is now found that the grains of 
com, and other substances with which they furnish 
their hill, are only meant as fences to keep oflf the 
the rigour of the weather, lliey pass four or five 
months without taking any nourishment, and seem 
to be dead all that time. It would be to no pur- 
pose therefore for ants to lay up corn for the 
winter, since they lie that time without motion, 
heaped upon each other, and are so far from eating 
that they are utterly unable to stir. Thus what 
authors have dignified by the name of a magazine, 
appears to be no more than a cavity, which serves 
for a common retreat, when they return to their 
lethargic state. 

But what has been falsely said of the European 
ant, may be true of those of the tropical climates ; 
for it is alleged that they do lay up provisions, and 
as they probably live the whole year, they may be 
guided by regulations unknown among the ants in 
Europe. Those of Africa are of three kinds, the 
red, the green, and the black ; the latter are above 
an inch long, and in every respect a most formi- 
dable insect. They build an ant-hill from six to 
twelve feet high, made of viscous clay> and in a 
pyramidal form. The cells ace «q \i\a&RSt^>5Sk vss.^ 



284 WXSLIy'b FHIL080PHT* 

eveiiy that a haneycomb scarce ezfieadsthem* The 
inhabitants of this edifice seem to be under a Tery 
strict reguktion* At the slightest warning they 
sally out upon whateyer distorbs them, and if they 
arrest theur enemy^ he is sure to find no mercy. 
Sheep9 hens, and even rats are often destroyed by 
these merciless insects, and their flesh devoored to 
the bone. No anatomist can strip a skeleton so 
clean as they. 

If a frog be put into a. box with holes boted 
therein, and the box laid near the nest of ants, 
they will entirely dissect him, and make the finest 
skeleton possible, leaving even the ligam«Kts un- 
hurt. 

One of the most dreadM enemies of the ants is 
the formica-leo or ^ ant-lion/' so called from the 
havock which it makes among the ants and other 
small ground insects. It is the larva of Myrmecoleon 
formicarum of Linnaeus, which is a neuropterous 
insect, about an inch long, of a yellow colour spotted 
with black, with transparent wings, having the 
fibres black interspersed with white, and a whitish 
spot near the extremity of the wing. The full 
grown insect is very slender in the body, and with 
long wings. It is found only in the wanner countries, 
where it clings to plants in a state of rest during 
the day. T^e larva is very different both in ap- 
pearance and in manner. Its body is composed 
of several rings : it has six legs, four joined to tbe 
breast ; and the other to a long part, which may be 
termed the neck. Its head is small and flat, and 
it has two remarkable horns, the sixth of an inch 
long, as thick as a hair, hard, hollow and hooked 
at the end. At the origin of each of these horns, 
^l^has a clear and bright black eye. 

**9 is not able to Wit t&^t "^T^^^iiQt Af^ djestroy 



ANT-LION. 285 

large insects. He can only ensnare such as come 
by his habitation, and, of these, few are such as he 
can manage. All the winged tribe escape by flight, 
and those that have hard shells are of no use to 
him. The smallness of the ant, and its want of 
wings, make it his destined prey. The manner 
wherein he proceeds is this : he usually encamps 
under an old wall for shelter, and always chooses a 
place where the soil is composed of a light, dry 
sand. In this he makes a pit in the shape of a 
funnel, which he does in the following manner. 

If he intends the pit to be but small, he thrusts 
his hinder parts into the sand, and by degrees 
works himself into it. When he is deep enough, 
he tosses out with his head the loose sand which is 
run down, artfully throwing it oflf, beyond the edges 
of the pit. Then he lies at the bottom of the small 
hollow, which comes sloping down to his body. 

But if he is to make a larger pit, he first traces 
a circle in the sand. Then he buries himself 
in it, and carefully throws oflF the sand beyond the 
circle. Thus he continues running down back- 
ward in a spiral line, and throwing off the sand 
above him all the way, till he comes to the point of 
the hollow cone, which he has formed by his pas- 
sage. The length of his neck, and the flatness of 
his head, enable him to use the whole as a spade. 
And his strength is so great, that he can throw a 
quantity of sand to six inches' distance. He like- 
wise throws away the remains of the animals he 
has devoured, that they may not fright other crea- 
tures of the species. 

Where the sand is unmixed, he makes and re- 
pairs his pit with great ease. But it is not so 
where other substances are mixed with it. If, 



286 WBStVT^B PHIL080PQY. 

when he has half formed his pit« he eomes to a 
stone not too large, he goes on, leariDg that to 
the last When the pit is finished, he ereqps up 
backwards to the stone^ and getting his haek-side 
under it, takes great pains to get it on a true 
poise, and then creeps backward with it to Uie tq> 
of the pit. . 

We may often see one thos laboming at a stone 
four times as big as his own body. And asit can only 
move backward, and the poise is hard to keep, 
espedally up a slope of crumbly sand, the stone 
frequently slips when near the verge, and rolls 
down to the bottom. In this case he attacks it 
anew, and is not discouraged by five or six mis- 
carriages ; but attempts it again, till at length he 
gets it over the verge of his place. Yet he does 
not leave it there, lest it should roll in again, but 
always removes it to a convenient distance. 

When his pit is finished, he buries himself at 
the bottom of it in the sand, leaving no part above 
it but the tips of his horns, which he extends to the 
two sides of the pit. Thus he waits for his prey. 
If an ant walk on the edge of his pit, it throws 
down a little of the sand. This gives notice to 
toss up the sand from his head on the ant ; of which 
he throws more and more, till he brings him down 
to the bottom, between his horns. These he then 
plunges into the ant, and having sucked all the 
blood, throws out the skin as far as possible. 
This done, he mounts up the edges of his pit, and 
if they have suflFered any injury, repairs it care- 
fully. He then immediately buries himself again 
in th ;'»ntre, to wait for another meal. 

"^ ^° , ■•ture has no mouth, but it is through its 
Lis a Clear ^^^^^^^^^ ^Al \ts nourishment. And as 
Jtie IB not able 



DEATH-WATCH. 287 

they are so necessary for its life, nature has pro- 
vided for the restoring of them in case of accidents ; 
so that if they are cut ofif, they soon grow again. 

When he has lived his stated time, he leaves his 
pit, and is only seen drawing traces on the sand. 
After this he huries himself under it, and encloses 
himself in a case. This is made of a sort of silk, with 
grains of sand cemented together hy a glutinous 
humour which he emits. But this would he too 
harsh for his body ; so it serves only for the out- 
ward covering. He spins within it one of pure, 
fine, pearl-coloured silk, which covers his whole 
body. When he has lain some time in this case, 
he throws ofif his outer skin, with the eyes, the 
hums, and all other exterior parts, and becomes an 
oblong worm, in which may be traced the form of 
the future fly. Through its transparent skin may 
be seen new eyes, new horns, and all other parts of 
the perfect animal. This worm makes its way 
about half out of the case, and so remains, without 
farther life or motion, till the perfect fly makes its 
way out of a slit in the back. It much resembles 
the dragon-fly. The male then couples with the 
female and dies. 

A very extraordinary kind of insect is that which 
is called a death-watch, on account of its making a 
noise like the ticking of a watch. They are of 
two kinds. One is a small beetle, somewhat more 
than a quarter of an inch long, of a dark brown 
colour spotted, and having a large cap on the head, 
with two feelers springing from beneath the eyes. 
Dr. Derham observed it to draw back its mouth, 
and beat with its forehead. He kept two, a male 
and a female, in a box for some months, and could 
bring one of them to beat when he pleased^ h^ 



^nii 



■ «i '.♦'■'.■.■4?^ ■■ *• 

S88 WBSLIY*B PRILOftOVEnr. . 

imitatiiig its beating. And he mob foondiUi 
ticking to be the way wherefaj they wooed otiie 
another. 

The other kind is a greyish inieet, which beett 
slowly for some honrs withoat intermijMion ; whSit 
the former beatsonly seven or dght strokes atatioM^ 
but much quicker. It u very common in samoMr, 
in all parts of oor houses^ mmUe in nmniiig to 
shelter, and shy of beating, if disturbed; bat it 
beats readily in answer to your beat, if tl^ place 
whereit lies is not shaken. It perforins this opeis- 
tion generally in the paper or wood work <i the 
apartment It is at first a small white egg, and 
hatches in March, when it creeps about with its 
shell on, though smaller than the egg itself and 
soon grows to its perfect sixe. 

That death-watches do woo one another occa- 
sionally) but not always, may be learned from 
the account of an accurate observer. ^' As I was 
in my study, I happened to hear what is called a 
death-watch. Incliuing my head toward a chair, I 
found it was beating there. The manner of its 
beating was this — it lifted up itself on its hinder 
legS) and extending its neck, struck its face upon 
the sedge, which was bared upon its outward coat, 
about the length of half an inch. The impression 
of its strokes was visible ; the outward coat of the 
sedge being depressed, where it had just been beat- 
ing, for about the compass of a silver penny. I am 
inclined to think it heals for food. There were 
several places on the sedge, where it had been at 
work, and where it had probably been sojourning 
for some days. "T^k 

^* Possibly the ^IpAy sometimes woo its 
ate by eating tb ^kwas not the ease now. 



BEETLES. 289 

It had not any other of its kind near it. It seemed 
therefore to be preparing its food. It was about a 
quarter of an inch long, of a dark dirty colour, 
having a broad helmet over its head, which it could 
draw up under it, so that it is a notable defence 
against the falls to which it is continually exposed, 
creeping over rotten and decayed places. 

" The second day after I took it, I opened the 
box, and set it in the sun. It was soon very brisk, 
and crept nimbly to and fro, till suddenly it struck 
out its wings, and was going to take its leave ; but 
on my shading it over, it drew in its wings, and 
was quiet." 

This seems to be the smallest of the beetle kind. 
A gentleman describes one of a very different sort 
in the Philosophical Transactions. " On the re- 
moval of a large leaden cistern, I observed at the 
bottom of it black beetles. One of the largest I 
threw into a cup of spirits (it being the way of 
killing and preparing insects for my purpose). In 
a few minutes it appeared to be quite dead. I then 
shut it up in a box about an inch and a half in 
diameter, and throwing it into a drawer thought 
no more of it for two months, when opening the 
box I found it alive and vigorous, though it had no 
food all the time, nor any more air than it could 
find in so small a box, whose cover shut very 
close. A few days before a friend had sent me 
three or four cock-roaches. These I had put under 
a large glass ; I put my beetle among theijf , and 
fed them with green ginger, which they ate "greed- 
ily; but he would never taste it, for the five 
weeks they lived there. The cock-roaches would 
avoid the beetle, and seem frighted at his ap-< 
proach ; but he usually stalked aloug, not at all 

VOL. II. u 



• 



,«■?-.'. 



290 WSSLST*8 PBILOaOPHT. 

regarding whether they came . ia his ivay eir not' 
Daring the two years and a half that I hare kepi 
him» he has ndther ate nor dnmk. 

<< How then has he been kept afire ? Is it by 
the air? There are particles in fldsyWhiich.Bapp^ 
a growth to some species of jdants* as sempermoniy 
orpine» and house-leek: may not the same or the 
like particles supply nourishmeDt to some species 
of animab ? In the amaaing jdan of nature, the 
animal) Togetable* and mineral kingdoms are not 
separated from eaeh other by wide distaaees, but 
their boundaries difiw from each other by sndi 
minute and insensible degrees, that we cannot 
find out certainly where ue one begms, or the 
other ends. As the air therefore nourishes some 
plants, so it may nourish some animals ; otherwise 
a link would seem to be wanting in the mightj 
chain of beings. It is certain chameleons and 
snakes can live many months without any visible 
sustenance, and probably, not merely by their slow 
digestion,- but rather by means of particles con- 
tained in the air, as this beetle did ; yet doubtless 
in its natural state it used more substantial food. 
So the plants above-named thrive best with a little 
earth, although they flourish a long time, and send 
forth branches and flowers, when they are sus- 
pended in the air. 

*' Even in the exhausted receiver, after it had 
been there half an hour, it seemed perfectly unc(W- 
cerned, walking about as briskly as ever. But on 
the admission of the air, it seemed to be in a sur- 
prise for a minute. 

*< After I had kept him half a year longer, he 
got away, through the carelessness of a servant 
who took down the glass.*^ 



GNATS. 291 

There are few insects more prolific than the 
gnat. All its changes from the egg to the perfect 
animal are fulfilled in three weeks or a month ; 
there are usually seven generations in a year, in 
each of which the parent lays two or three hundred 
eggs. These she ranges in the form of a hoat, and 
each egg is shaped like a nine-pin. The thicker 
ends of these are placed downward. They are 
firmly joined together by their middles, and their 
narrower parts stand upward. 

Viewed with a microscope, the larger end is 
observed to be terminated by a short neck, the 
end of which is bordered by a kind of ridge. The 
neck of each is sunk in water, on which the boat 
swims ; for it is necessary they should keep on the 
surface, as otherwise the eggs could never be 
hatched. 

The ranging these in so exact an order requires 
the utmost care in the parent. Gnats lay their eggs 
in the morning hours, on such waters as will give 
support to their young. Here the parent places 
herself on a small stick, a leaf, or any such matter 
near the water's edge, in such a manner that the 
last ring but one of her body touches the surface 
of the water. The last ring of all, where there is 
the passage for the eggs, is turned upward, and 
every egg is thrust out vertically. When it is 
almost disengaged, she applies it to the sides of the 
cluster already formed ; to which it readily adheres 
by means of a viscous matter wherewith they are 
covered. 

The great difficulty is to place the first laid eggs 
in a proper position to receive the rest, and to 
sustain all in a proper direction. These, with great 
precaution, she places exactly, by means of her 

u 2 



'29^ Wesley's philosophy. 

hiud leg5 ; and when a sufficient number of thera 
are arranged, all the rest is easy ; these forming 
a firm support to all that follow them. 

These are sufficiently extraordinary circumstances 
in this little animal ; but there is something still 
more curious in the method of its propagation. 
However similar insects of the gnat kind are in 
their appearances, yet they differ widely in the 
manner in which they are brought forth ; for some 
are oviparous, some viviparous ; some are males, 
some are females, some are of neither sex, yet still 
produce young, without any copulation whatsoever. 
This is one of the strangest discoveries in all natural 
history ! A gnat separated from the rest of its kind, 
and inclosed in a glass vessel, with air sufficient to 
keep it alive, shall produce young, which also, when 
separated from each other, shall be the parents of 
a numerous progeny. Thus down for five or six 
generations do these extraordinary animals propa- 
gate in the manner of vegetables, the young burst- 
ing from the body of their parents, without any 
previous impregnation. At the sixth generation, 
liowever, their propagation stops; the gnat no 
longer produces its like from itself, but requires the 
access of the male. 

A Cicadula is a small insect found in May and 

June on the stalks of leaves of plants, in a kind of 

froth, commonly called cuckoo spit. This froth is 

not from the plant, but the mouth of the animal ; 

and, if it be gently wiped away, will be presently 

seen issuing out of its mouth till there is as large 

a quantity of it as before. They are of the shape 

of a mite, some \>e\\\^ 'wYvvVasVv, %ome yellowish, and 

others green. TVvey o^lexv <i\\^x\^^ ^^vt 5^Yoa»^\^<i. 

they live in this frol\v> ax\^ oviVj ct^^^^ ^XsX.^^.^xis. 



COCHINEAL INSECT. 293 

when they leave the plant, they hop and fly, having 
wings which cover the whole body. 

The Cochineal is an insect of the same species 
as the gall-insect. It is found adhering to several 
plants ; but only one communicates its valuable 
qualities to it, the opuntia or prickly pear. This 
consists of thick smallish leaves, and its fruit, 
resembling a fig, is full of crimson juice, to which 
the insect owes its colour. 

When first hatched, it is scarcely bigger than a 
mite, and runs about very swiftly. But it soon 
loses its activity, and fixing on the least and most 
juicy part of the leaf, clings there for life, without 
moving any more, only for its subsistence, which 
it sucks with its proboscis. 

The males have no appearance of belonging to the 
same species. They are smaller than the females, 
have wings, and, like the butterfly, are continually 
in motion. They are constantly seen among the 
females, walking over them, as it were, carelessly, 
and impregnating them. But it is the female only 
which is gathered for use, four times in the year ; 
. for so many are the generations of them. 

The most singular part of the life of a drone-fly is 
that which it passes in the form of a worm. It is then 
distinguished from all other worms by its long tail : 
at diflerent times this is indeed of different lengths ; 
but it is always longer than the worm itself. It is 
round, smooth, and very small at the extremity ; 
sometimes no thicker than a horse-hair. To know 
the use of this tail, we must first know the nature 
of the worm itself. It is an aquatic, and never 
leaves the water till it changes into its fly state. 
Tbej We in multitudes m lYie \ii\x^ ^X. 'Ockfc\i'^'vN«^^ 
•r^ssefc of putrid water. P\vtl\iemmXo^^'s»'^^^'^^^^^^ 



2M WULIT'8 raiLOtoPHT. 

Urns: May W, 1744. I wm ftrst shown tfeiBlij 
the name of M»y4ty. It Kes all tlie year, bat a fev 
days, at the bottom of ihe riTer; tlien hms to ti» 
Btirftuse of the water, and splitting open its case^ np 
springs the new anbnal, with a slmider body, ibor 
shining wings, and three kmg hairs in its taL It 
next flies about to ftnd a proper place where it may 
wait for its proper ehange* This oomes in two €ft 
three days. I held one on my finger, while it per- 
formed Ma great work* It was sorprisin^ to see 
how easily its back spHt, and produced the new 
birth, which leaTes head^ body, wings, 1^, and 
even its three haired tail bdbdnd, or the cases cf 
them. After it has rested a little, it flies nimbly to 
seek its mate. The males keep imder the trees, 
remote from the river. Hither the females resorted, 
and when impregnated soon left the males, songkt 
the rivers, and kept continually playing up and down 
on the water. Every time they darted down, tbey 
ejected a cluster of eggs. Then they sprang np 
again. Thus, they went up and down till they had 
exhausted their stock of eggs and spent their 
strength, and being so weak that they can rise no 
more, they fall a prey to the fishes, and this is the 
end of the females. The males never resort to the 
river, but, having done their office, drop down and 
die. 

In a life of three or four days they eat nothing. 
They have no apparatus for that purpose ; and yet 
they have strength to shed their skins, and to per- 
form the purposes of their life with great vivacity. 

How poor an end, to our apprehension, is 
answered by the Wfe oi iXwa, raA vonMiinerable other 

animals I 
The eggs of butteT«L\e^ ^o xio\. Vjv^^^^\xs.\s^ 



CATERPILLARS AND BUTTERFLIES. 297 

while in the hody of the female ; but as soon as they 
are impregnated by the male, they are ready to be 
laid. This operation, however, requires some time, 
both because of their number, and the nicety with 
which she arranges them. This, indeed, is the whole 
business of her life ; for when they are laid, she dies. 

The female does not deposit her eggs at random, 
but searches out a sort of plant which the cater- 
pillars can feed on as soon as they are hatched. 
Neither does she scatter them irregularly and with- 
out order, but disposes them with perfect symmetry, 
and fastens them together by a viscous liquor dis- 
charged from her own viscera. And those species 
whose hinder part is covered with long hairs, gra- 
dually throw them all ofiF, and therewith make a 
nest, wherein the eggs are kept safely, till the time 
of their hatching. 

Some caterpillars are hatched in the spring, as 
soon as the leaves they are to be fed on begin to 
bud. After thirteen days, they change into pupae, 
and having past three weeks in that state, they issue 
forth winged, with all the beauty of their parents. 

The wings of butterflies fully distinguish them 
from flies of every other kind. They are four in 
number ; and though two of them be cut ofiF, the 
animal can fly with the remaining two. They are 
in their own substance transparent ; but owe their 
capacity to the beautiful dust with which they are 
covered, and which has been likened by some to 
the feathers of birds ; and by others, to the scales 
of fishes. If we inspect the wing of a butterfly 
with a good microscope, we shall perceive it studded 
over with a variety of little grains of different 
dimensions and forms, geIveT^!^3 «vjLY^«^<i^ ^'^ ^ 
footstalk, regularly laid w^oti \X:i^ ^\vs^a 's.x^:^^^^- 



298 Wesley's philosophy. 

Nothing can exceed the beautiful and regular 
arrangement of these little substances. Those of 
one rank are a little covered by those that follow : 
they are of many figures ; here may be seen a suc- 
cession of oval studs ; there a cluster of them, each 
in the form of a heart : in one place they resem- 
ble an open hand; and in another, they are long 
or triangular ; while all are interspersed with taller 
studs that grow between the rest, like mushrooms 
upon a stalk. 

The eyes of butterflies have not all the same 
form ; for in some they are large, in others small 
In all of them the outward coat has a lustre, in 
which may be discovered the various colours of the 
rainbow. When examined closely, it will be found 
to have the appearance of a multiplying-glass ; 
having a great number of sides or facets, in the 
manner of a brilliant cut diamond. These animals, 
therefore, see not only with great clearness, but 
view every object multiplied in a surprising man- 
ner. Puget adapted the cornea of a fly in such a 
position as to see objects through it by means of a 
microscope ; and nothing could exceed the strange- 
ness of its representations : a soldier, who was 
seen through it, appeared like an army of pigmies ; 
for while it multiplied, it also diminished the ob- 
ject. It still, however, remains a doubt, whether 
the insect sees objects singly, as with one eye ; or 
whether every facet is itself a complete eye, exhi- 
biting its own object distinct from all the rest. The 
trunk, which few butterflies are without, is placed 
exactly between the eyes ; which, when the animal 
is not seeking its ivo\xt\s\vxtve^\.^ \s rolled up like a 
cur J. A butteriVy, vjVietv Vt \^ ^^^^\c^^^ '^^fe% -^^xjk.^ 
some flower, and seU\e^ \^"^o^ ^^« '^^^ nx>^^>^\% 



CATERPILLARS AND BUTTERFLIES. 299 

then uncurled, and thrust out, searching the flower 
to its very bottom. This search being repeated 
seven or eight times, the butterfly then passes to 
another ; and continues to hover over those agree- 
able to its taste, like a bird over its prey. This 
trunk consists of two hollow tubes, nicely joined 
like the pipes of an organ. 

Butterflies as well as moths employ their short 
lives in a variety of enjoyments. Their whole 
time is spent either in quest of food, which every 
flower offers ; or in pursuit of the female, whose 
approach they often perceive at above two miles 
distance. Their sagacity in this particular is asto- 
nishing; but by what sense they are capable of 
doing this, is not easy to conceive. It cannot be 
by sight, since such small objects must be utterly 
imperceptible at half the distance : it can scarcely 
be by the sense of smelling, since the animal has 
no organs for that purpose. Whatever be their 
powers of perception, certain it is, that the male, 
after having fluttered, as if carelessly, about for 
some time, is seen to take wing and go forward, 
sometimes for two miles together, in a direct line 
to where the female is perched on a flower. 

Caterpillars are of no sex, it not being their 
business to propagate till they commence butter- 
flies. Yet many of them are not so harmless as 
they seem ; for they destroy their fellows when- 
ever they can. Put twenty caterpillars of the 
oak together in a box, with a sufficient quantity 
of leaves, their natural food, and their numbers will 
decrease daily, till only one remains alive. The 
stronger seizes the weaker by the throat, and ^ves 
bim a mortal wound. When \ife Sa ^«^<^> ^^ tssnj^- 
derer begins to eat him up, and. \e«.Ne» ^i!^:^ ^^ ^kssv^ 



900 WULBY*4 ISlLaMffOTk ' ■'■ 

with ihe bead and ie«t Thi8» liwr fc fieis fa nofc Atf 
case of ally for many spedea Hve peaceably and 
comfortably together. 

But even tneae are expoaed to dangers of a 
more terrible kind* The larre eif aoTeral sorts 
of flies continually prey upon them* Some are 
upon, some under the skin, and both eat up the 
poor, defenceless animal alive. 

It is surprising to see with what industry these 
little creatures weave the cases in which they pass 
their pupa state. Some aiB made of sillc^ mned 
with their own hair, pieces of bark, leaves, wood, 
or JP&per. 

There fa one sort that builds in wood, and gives 
its case a hardness greater than tliat of the wood 
itself. Thfa fa the caterpillar of the willow, whidi 
is one of those who eat their exuviae. He has sharp 
teeth, wherewith he cuts the wood into a number 
of small fragments. These he unites together 
into a case, by means of a peculiar silk, which is a 
viscous juice that hardens as it dries. In order to 
make this silk enter into the very substance of 
the fragments, he moistens every one of them by 
holding them successively in his mouth for a consi- 
derable time. In this firm case he is aflerwards to 
be enclosed till he becomes a butterfly. But how 
is a creature of this helpless kind, which has neither 
legs to dig, nor teeth to gnaw, to get out of so firm 
and strong a lodgment as that wherein it is enclosed ? 
Nature has provided for this also ; for as soon as 
it is perfected, it discharges a liquor which dissolves 
the viscous matter that holds the case together, so 
that the fragments all in pieces of themselves ; aod 
near its mouth there is always found a bladder of 
the size of a small ^^ ^l <)f ^fa liquor. 



CATERPILLARS AND BUTTERFLIES. 301 

Some caterpillars, all the way they walk, spin a 
thread of silk, which marks their journey. A little 
observation will show the end served by this thread, 
for if we trace the animal till it chances to stumble, 
it will be seen that the thread, being fastened to 
leaves and twigs, breaks the fall. Nor is this all. 
It can also, by means of this thread, re-ascend to 
the place whence it fell, and having got safe up 
again, it continues its motion as before. 

Another curious artifice is that by which the 
same species of caterpillars make themselves cases 
of leaves before they change into pupae. The nicest 
hands could not roll these up so regularly as they do ' 
without hands, or anything like them. They perform 
it thus : — ^the caterpillar places itself on the upper 
side of a leaf, so far ft'om the edge that he can reach 
it with his head. Turning itself round, it then brings 
the edge of the leaf to the point just opposite to it. 
It next draws lines from the edge of this leaf to that 
point ; and, doing this all the way along the leaf, 
its narrowness towards the point makes it form a 
close case there. It strengthens the first bending 
of the leaf by many parallel threads, and then 
fastening other threads to the back part of the leaf, 
draws them as tight as it can, thus the case is 
formed. The same method repeated makes the 
additional cases, five or six over each other ; and 
every one of these is sufficiently strong to render 
the inner ones useless. It then enters its cell, and 
undergoes its change. Meantime its covering 
serves it also for food. So long as it requires food 
it can live upon the walls of its castle, all of which 
may be eaten away, except the outer one of all. 
Probably every caterpillar makes its case thick 
enough to serve the necessary calls of its future 
hunger. 



I •• 



303 WBSinfB miLCMionnr. 

Many ipeciM of tattarflias ky » g ro at Boatiber 
of eggs in the aama place. Tbaae an «I1 hatdied 
very nearly al the aame tbiie» and One noald nato- 
rally suppoae that the yomig broad of all would 
be iodiiied to eontmnettid live together. Bnttfab 
is not the case ; for the difeeBt ifiiMaes have 
different indinationa. Some keep together from 
the time they are hatched till umj ohange into 
pupsB ; othera Beparate as soon «a th^ are 
able to crawly and seek their fertonea nngly; and 
others again live in commnaity till a eertaia 
time, and then each shifta ibr itaell Thosethit 
live wholly together begin by fonmng a line with 
their little bodiea upon a hsaf, theur headi lU 
standing even, and in this manner they more and 
eat together ; and there are often several ranges of 
this sort, which make so many phahunes, and est 
into the leaf they stand on widi perfect equality. 

Many do this while young, who when they grow 
large, make one common habitation, surrounded 
by a web, which is the joint work of all, and within 
which each has a nest of its own spinning. 

When they have made their common lodging, 
each takes its course over the tree or bush for 
food. Thus many hundreds of them form a regu* 
lar republic. The separate cell of each is finally 
the place where it passes its change into the pupa 
and perfect state ; and many species do not sepa- 
rate even then, but are found in their pupa state 
all huddled together, the numbers of their cases 
making one confused mass. 

On the regularity of their marches, they are 
exactly obedient to thdr chief. When they change 
their quarters, one xaaxcYtta «ak^^^«%\.\ \.^^\:0t3&ia« 
Mow, and keep t\MS« >Bodafta ^wj m^S^^ >^ Jfea 



CATERPILLARS AND BUTTERFLIES. 303 

a large party. These regulate their motions by 
the former ; and so the order is continued through 
the whole company. When the leader turns to the 
right or left, the whole body does the same instantly. 
When he stops, they all immediately stop, and 
march again the moment he advances. 

The outward covering of the body is, in many 
animals, changed several times ; but in few more 
frequently than the caterpillar. Most of these 
throw it off at least once in ten days. Indeed in 
the whole insect class, the most numerous of all 
animated beings, there is scarcely one which does 
not cast its skin, at least once, before it arrives at 
its full growth. But the caterpillar changes more 
than its skin : even the outward covering of every, 
the minutest part of its body. And what they 
throw off has the appearance of a complete insect, 
presenting us with all the external parts of a living 
animal. If the caterpillar be of a hairy kind, the 
skin it throws off is hairy, containing the covering 
of every hair., .And even the claws and other 
parts that are not' visible without a microscope, are 
as plain in this as in the living animal. But what 
is more amazing is, that the solid parts of the head, 
the skin and mandibles are distinguishable therein. 
The throwing off an old skull and teeth, to make 
way for new ones, is an act beyond all comprehen 
sion I A day or two before, the creature refuses 
to eat, and walks very slowly, or not at all. It 
turns from side to side, and often raises its head, 
and gently depresses it again. He frequently 
raises his head, and strikes it down rudely against 
any thing he stands upon. Frequently the fore- 
part of the body is raised itom >i)cv^ tJ^^^^ «sv^ 
thrust very briskly back^ratd Mid ior««c^>"Cw!t<^^ ^'^ 



D04 Wesley's philosophy. 

four times together. There are likewise distinct 
motions within every ring. These are severally 
inflated an contracted alternately, by which the 
skin is loosened from them ; till by this means, and 
its remaining without food, the body is quite dis- 
engaged from its covering. 

When this time approaches, all the colours of the 
skin grow faint, and lose their beauty, receiving 
no nourishment from the body. And as the 
creature continues swelling and shrinking,the skin, 
being no longer flexible, cracks along the back. 
The crack always begins at the second or third 
ring from the head. As it opens, the new skin is 
seen within. This opening he easily enlarges, 
thrusting his body like a wedge out of the slit, till 
he lengthens it through four rings. Then he has 
room to draw out the whole body. First, the head 
is by several motions loosened, drawn out of the 
old skull, and raised through the crack : this is 
then laid softly on the old skin of the part. By 
the same motions the tail end is disengaged, drawn 
out, and laid smoothly on the old skin. It takes 
the animal several days to prepare for the last 
operation. But when the crack is once made, the 
whole remaining work is done in less than a 
minute. 

The hairs found on the cast skins of the hairv 
c'at(^rpillars seem at first, like the other part of the 
exuvia), to be only the covering of the hairs 
oiicloscd. But that is not the case, for they are 
solid things themselves, not barely coverings ; 
and in fact the creature when first hatched has all 
its skins perfectly fovmcd, one under another, each 
furnished witYi \ls W\t?», ^c» \>cv^\. "Oiv^ OA w\<k3. fall 
off with the old sldxv^. Kx^^ ^xQ\i^J^N n^^ ^^s^^^nm^ 



INJURIOUS COCCI. 305 

these is one great means of forcing off the old 
skins. 

This miscellaneous chapter on the insect trihes 
would not he complete unless we gave a short 
notice of those which are most annoying to the 
cultivator, whether of the garden or of the field ; 
this therefore we shall endeavour to do in as few 
words as possible. 

Among these the coccus family may be men- 
tioned as being especially obnoxious to the cultiva- 
tors of the vine, the pine apple, and the generality 
of hotrhouse plants, as well as the most useful of 
our fruit trees out of doors. In the early part of 
their lives these insects are exceedingly minute; 
and at this stage they are most active; In appear- 
ance they resemble small tortoises, and are of a 
dull reddish colour; they fasten on the leaf or stem 
of the plant, and with a long and sharp beak, with 
which they are furnished, they pierce it in such a 
manner as causes great injury to its vegetation, 
and sometimes even total barrenness. There are 
several species of this family : they are the Ameri- 
can blight, so pestiferous in our orchards; the brown 
scale, which inhabits the orange myrtle ; and such 
plants as possess leaves of a firm consistency; the 
migratory white one, which is frequently seen on 
the pine apple plants ; the vine-fretter, which locates 
in the hot-house, and on peach trees and vines ; and 
some others, which are found in the woods, hedges, 
and the garden. The economy of the various 
species does not seem to differ materially; when ^ 
young they wander about pretty much; but on 
attaining the adult size, both sexe% ^il \!(\fi;\£A»^^'^ 
to the steins or plants, N^hete \SE\ft^ x^aasfiisv ^^s«- 

VOL, II, X 



306 Wesley's philosophy. 

tionary; and after impregnation, the female in- 
creases in size to about a line in length. The 
bag of eggs is deposited on the surface of the 
bark, in the middle of a layer of white gummy 
matter, and gradually drawn under the body of the 
female, which now assumes the appearance of a 
skinny covering formed out of the upper and under 
tunics ; and, what is rather singular,, the eggs are 
now found under these tunics, though they were 
before situated between them. On the ^gs being 
hatched, nature being exhausted in the female, it 
is understood that she immediately dies the instant 
her young ones are able to shift for themselves. 

The male is without a mouth, and seems destined 
only for the propagation of the species. Destruc- 
tive as these insects are to vegetation, they are not 
without their use, for some of the species are 
eagerly sought after on account of the rich red 
dye which they yield. The most valuable species 
is the cochineal insect ; but there is another species 
which inhabits trees, chiefly ever-green oaks, in the 
south of Europe, which was highly esteemed 
previous to the introduction of the American 
cochineal. It is called kermes, and is still verv 
much used, though the colour which it yields is 
not nearly so beautiful. 

The ravages committed by these insects (for 
none of the British species are useful in the arts) 
have led to many expedients for their destruction ; 
and among others, a skilful writer on gardening 
recommends the following wash : — " 2 lbs. soft 
soap, 2 lbs. flour of sulphur, 1 lb. leaf tobacco, 
2 oz. nux vomica, axv^ Q»Tifc ojaaxX. \x^\tL oil, all 
Loikd together in ^ ^\\w^^ o*^ ^^\«x. Y\»fe %»5sa. 



GREEN AND GALL FLIES. 307 

require to be anointed all over with the liquor, and 
when re-potted in fresh soil, and in a well-cleansed 
house, are freed from the pest." 

The Green fly, " Aphides.." This is, perhaps, 
the most numerous family of noxious insects which 
devastate the vegetable kingdom. They are com- 
monly classified into different species, according to 
the different colours ; but it seems probable that they 
are almost all of the same species ; and that the dif- 
ferent hues of black, green, and red, which they 
assume, are merely the effects of the quality of the 
juices which they feed on. They are exceedingly 
prolific ; and when they effect a settlement in a field 
of pease, the crop is speedily stripped of its prin- 
cipal value, and nothing left but the almost valueless 
straw. When these destructive insects attack an 
extensive field, it is impossible to stay their ravages ; 
but this may be conveniently effected by the smoke 
of tobacco, when they appear on house plants or in 
the garden. 

The Gallfly, or " Cynips." These insects are 
chiefly remarkable for the singular forms of those 
lodgments which the larvae produce upon the 
leaves and stems of plants. Many of them so 
much resemble small apples, that th6y hive been 
considered as a sort of fruit ; or, at jill events, a 
production of the tree without the assistance of any 
insect ; and the Cedeguar, again, so much resembles 
a tuft of moss or lichen, that it might readily be 
taken for a parasitic vegetable. It has, however, 
been clearly ascertained that the whole of these 
galls, whatever may be their form and colour, are 
produced by insects of the cyav^ ^^kv^^^'Omssm^ ^SiJs. 
that family do not produce ga\V%) a'a xoass^ ^^ "^es^ 
lodge their eggs in the keTiie\^ o^ ^Ta\\& «sv\ "^^^^ 

x2 



308 Wesley's philosophy. 

naceous seeds. Generally speaking, there is only 
one larva in each excrescence ; but in some cases 
the single excrescence contains a colony. The 
injury they do to vegetation is not very serious. 

The Tuimip fly, or beetle, " Haltiaca oleracea." 
This tribe of insects is equally annoying to the 
fanner and the gardener, and there has not yet 
been any adequate remedy discovered to protect 
either the field or the garden &ora their injurious 
effects. They appear in the garden early in the 
spring, and their attacks are directed to the vital 
leaves of the cauliflower, the cabbage, the radish, 
and other plants, which yery soon fall sacrifices to 
their blighting effects. In the field they attack the 
turnip plant on its appearance above.ground, and a 
crop of many acres is speedily nipped in the bud, 
sometimes subjecting the farmer to the expense 
and labour of repeated sowings in the course of one 
season ; and, what is worse, sometimes to the total 
failure of the crop. Of the economy of this insect 
very little has yet been discovered ; but, like other 
beetles, it inhabits the earth during the three first 
stages of its life, and comes forth in the summer at 
different periods, according to the* degree of heat. 

The Wheat fly, " Cecidomya tritici."* This is a 
very small gnat, of an orange colour, which makes 
its appearance in the British islands during the 
blossoming season of the wheat, towards the mid- 
dle of June. They have a long retractile ovipositor, 
by which they introduce their eggs into the ear at 
the time of its shooting, and the larvae thereby 
produced are believed to consume the pollen, and to 
prevent the impre^tva\!\ow ol "Ocv^ ^^scvo.. In an 
interesting account oH\ie^Toc.fe^^xi%^ ^1"vicis. ^^^^>^ 
of the farmer, Mr. »iu^« ^^1^—'-''^^^^^^^^'^^ 



WHEAT FLY. 309 

always preferred the ears emerging from the vagina, 
to those farther advanced, for depositing its eggs, 
and as one side only is exposed when the plant is 
in this stage of growth, the other side generally 
remained uninjured. The fly deserted the fields 
as the crop advanced to maturity, and was found 
longest in the spring-sown portion of the crop. It 
seemed to feed on the gum adhering to the newly 
emerged ears ; and as there is a great diversity in 
the time of sowing wheat in this neighbourhood 
(East Lothian), and consequently of the ears 
escaping from the vagina, I attribute the unusual 
length of time it has existed this season (1829), to 
the supply of food thus gradually furnished." Mr. 
Shireff is of opinion that no effectual check can 
be given to the ravages of this destructive insect, 
unless a variety of wheat be obtained, whose chaff 
so closely envelopes the cups as to he impervious 
to its ovipositor. The damage to the wheat crops, 
occasioned by this insect in some parts of our island, 
has been estimated at no less than thirty per cent. ; 
but there is another of the same genus, the Hessian 
fly, a native of North America, whose ravages are 
much more ruinous to the growers of wheat in that 
continent. In order to give the reader some idea 
of the devastation committed by this insect, we 
quote the following passage from Messrs. Kirby 
and Spence*s description of it : — " The ravages of 
the animal just alluded to were at one time so uni- 
versal as to threaten, wherever it appeared, the 
total abolition of the culture of wheat, though, by 
recent accounts, the injury it occasions is much 
less than at first. It commiences its de^^^d»^^^% 
in autumn, as soon as the pVanl \i^^vft& \» «5§^^»x 
above ground, when it devours liie \eaJl «sA %\?i'«^ 



310 Wesley's philosophy. 

with equal voracity, until stopped by the frost. 
When the return of spring brings a milder tempe- 
rature, the fly appears again, and deposits its eggs 
in the heart of the main stems, which it perforates, 
and so weakens, that when the ear begins to grow 
heavy, and is about to go into the milky state, they 
break down and perish. All the crops, as far as 
it extended its flight, fell before this ravager. It 
proceeded inland at about the rate of fifteen or 
twenty miles annually, and by the year 1789 had 
reached two hundred and fifty miles from its original 
station. Nothing intercepts them in their destruc- 
tive career, neither mountains nor the broadest 
rivers. They were seen to cross the Delaware 
like a cloud. The numbers of this fly were so great, 
that in the wheat harvest the houses swarmed 
with them, to the extreme annoyance of the inha- 
bitants. They filled every plate or vessel that was 
in use ; and five hundred were counted in a single 
glass tumbler, exposed to them a few minutes with 
a little beer in it." The popular name of this insect 
originated in the idea that prevailed among the 
Americans, that it was introduced into their country 
among the straw which accompanied the Hessian 
troops when they landed in Long Island in 1776 ; 
but that is a mistake, for the insect is unknown in 
Europe, unless when imported from America. 

The Wire-worm is the larva of the Elatercusta- 
nev^. It is a yellowish grub, with a brown head, 
rather less than an inch in length. They are 
found in almost every description of soil — more 
especially in newly broken up leys, and fresh loam ; 
and they seem to fee^ \w^\&mva\nately on the root 
of every plant VitYvVa. \\\cvx ^^^Ocv.\ %xv\ ^^ ^^s^^^^ 
quently equally dea\xucXvj^ X.^ ^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ 



WEEVIL — RED SPIDER. 311 

and the corn field. A liberal admixture of lime, 
in the dressing of the land, is the best method of 
providing against the devastations of this grub, as 
well as of the others of a similar species, all of 
which are very hurtful to young vegetables. 

The weevil, " Curculio granarius," infests gra- 
naries in which wheat is stored, and is very de- 
structive to their stores ; but it is understood that 
this insect prefers the unwashed fleece of wool to 
this grain. There are other curculios which, in their 
perfect state, feed on vegetation. One of these is 
particularly annoying in nurseries, where it lurks 
at the roots of the young trees during the day, 
and after nightfall ascends the stems, and commits 
serious havoc among the newly sprung plants, the 
buds of which it selects for its prey. It is a tough 
insect, and not easily got rid of ; but perhaps some 
nauseous lotion, applied to the stems of the plant, 
might act as a protection to the buds. 

The Hed spider, " red acarus or tick," is a very 
minute insect, without wings. It gets the name of 
spider on account of its forming a sort of web ; 
but this fabric is not used as a snare, but merely 
to protect itself against humidity, to which it is 
very subject. It is particularly annoying to the 
forcing gardener, as it commits great havoc in the 
hot-house by puncturing the cuticle of the leaves 
of the young shoots of peach-trees, vines, and 
other plants, whereby their vitality is quickly 
destroyed. The frequent and forcible application 
of water is a successful method of destroying this 
insect, when that can be done without injury to the 
plants ; but when they become very numerous^ a& 
thejr frequently do, it is necei&sarj \.o ^'eX. yv^^^'^«^sv 
by suffoc&tion. This may be ikoue Vj ws\.OK>si% 



312 WESLBY*8 PHILOSOPHY. 

the flues with a vapour of floor of brimstone, or by 
the use of a chafing dish^ constructed for the pur- 
pose. They can also be extirpated with copious 
moisture and high temperature. There are various 
other kinds of the plant tick, but thej are not so 
hurtful as the one above described. 

TTirips. These are also very small insects, des- 
titute of wings ; they resemble an aphis in appear- 
ance. Their destructive habits are similar to the 
red acarus, and the same means may be success- 
fully used in extirpating them. 

Ear^wigSy " forficula," are sufficiently noto- 
rious for the injury they inflict on plants and fruit; 
but their ravages may be easily stayed by entrap- 
ping them with hollow tubes, smeared over with a 
mixture of sugar and water being placed near 
their haunts. The wood louse (onisciis) and the 
ant may also be got rid of by the same means. 

Gooseberry and currant moth. The destruc- 
tive caterpillars of these insects are frequently 
destroyed by washing the stems with lime-water, 
and forming pits under the trees to bury the fallen 
ones ; and they are also successfully dispersed by 
the effluvia of sulphur or other suffocating fumi- 
gation. 

In providing against the baneful effects of the 
above-named insects, as well as others which might 
be enumerated, it is better to endeavour to prevent 
the introduction of the diseases they occasion than 
to cure them when formed ; and if proper care were 
taken by the cultivator to secure the trees and 
plants against the seasonal deposition of the eggs 
of insects, by pefio^\ea\ \q^^\v\xv^ mth such mix- 
tures as are suvtabVe ioT XXv^ ^x'&^t^ssX. ^^^'^^jx^^^.^jn^^ 
good would be «ffec\«d.\io'etim\i^^^^'^^^^^^<x^^^\ 



CATERPILLARS. did 

the fruit, and in the saving of the expense and 
labour that are* often bestowed in vain at later 
periods of the season. In speaking of the seasonal 
deposition of their eggs by insects, an intelligent 
writer observes, that " the careful mothers seek 
the furrows of the bark, and the indentations round 
the buds and branches, as safe dep6ts for their ova. 
But did they find these recesses already occupied 
by any quality offensive to them, they would seek 
a place elsewhere." Mildew would seldom appear 
on nectarine and peach-trees, if they were regularly 
washed in autumn, summer, and spring, with a ley 
made of soap and water; and there is no doubt a 
variety of mineral and vegetable substances, that 
have not yet been employed as preventatives of the 
destruction of vegetation, but which might be pro- 
fitably applied for this end ; and it should be the 
study of every cultivator to add such specifics as 
are within the reach of his observation and expe- 
rience to discover. It has been confidently stated 
by those who have tried the experiment, that potato 
water, thrown on fruit trees, is an excellent preser- 
vation from the effects of the caterpillar. The best 
mode of doctoring accidental wounds in trees is to 
scoop out the decayed parts, and apply a salve 
composed of tar, mixed with a small quantity of 
tallow and saltpetre. This salve ought to be laid 
on pretty thick at first, and renewed in proportion 
as it is inhaled by the tree. 

The observations which we have made in the 
latter part of this chapter, do not refer to every in- 
sect which interferes with man in cultivation, and 
the nature of which it is consequently vk!i.Ys^\»:^ 
that be should know ; but lYie "mote <i«asccka\i.'«sA 
the more important ones liaNe)a%ea TELCoJass^^^^ ^^ 



314 Wesley's philosophy. 

least in so far as the British Islands are concerned ; 
and thus it is hoped that these remarks may be 
found useful. 



CHAPTER VII. 



RADUTA, OR ANIMALS, MANY OF WHICH ARK BY THE OLDER 
NATURALISTS STYLKD ZOOPHYTES, OR ANIMAL PLANTS. 

We now come to the last of the four grand 
types or distinctions in the organic structure of 
those animated beings which can be the subjects of 
Imman contemplation through the medium of the 
senses. This may be considered as the ultimate 
bourn of matter as endowed with life; and the 
one in which the animal faculties, as we find them 
displayed in the warm-blooded animals, and the 
more perfectly developed of the invertebrata, are 
the least perfect, or at all events the least palpable, 
to our observation. 

Still, however, the wonders of creative wisdom 
and power are not less displayed, at this extremity 
of living nature, than they are in those species in 
which all the senses, as we judge of them, are the 
most perfect, and the resources* of the animal the 
most numerous and varied. No where, in all the 
wide and wonderful empire of nature, throughout 
all its kingdoms, and in all their departments, hath 
He left himself without a witness ; and though the 
linos in which the testimony is written vary much 
in their character, yet they are all so conspicuous 
and so legible, that they who run may read with 
pleasure and pro^t. 

There is, indeed, \^ ^o^^^^^ \x^<st^ \\!Xfex^'^\. x^ 
this, which 18 regaide^ ^ ^^^^ ^^^'^'^'^ '^T^ ^^^ 



WONDERS OF CREATION. 315 

confine of the living world, something of even 
deeper interest, than we find in those animals 
whose organization we can analyse in all its parts, 
and whose manners we can study in all their details. 
When we come to the extreme boundary, to the 
infusoria^ or animalcules, as they are called, we 
stand as it were upon the very verge of nothing- 
ness in regard of extended dimensions and material 
substance ; for we do not, with all our philosophi- 
cal helps, with all the " euphrasy and rue" of philo- 
sophical contrivance and skilful execution, which 
have increased the powers of vision many thou- 
sand fold, — we do not, with all the improvements 
which have in this way been made, and they are 
very many, and very wonderful, see the extreme 
boundary, beyond which, in point of magnitude, a 
creature cannot live ; nor are we sure that our 
utmost improvements in instruments, and correct- 
ness in observing, may be even one half or one 
tenth downward in the scale, toward which, in the 
indefinitude of its smalluess, there may be count- 
less thousands of races^ each less in proportion to 
the one above it, than a mouse is in proportion to 
an elephant. It has sometimes been fancied by 
ingenious men, who have taken spiritual views of 
the power of God in creation, that there may be a " 
plurality of worlds in the minutest portion which 
our observation can distinguish of the most solid 
substance. That, for instance, every particle — ^far, 
far below the ken of our best microscope— of gold, 
of diamond, or of any imaginable substance, more 
dense than the one, and more firm than the other, 
may be, in the sight of Him to whom <' a thousand 
yeETs are as one day, and one ^-^ «& ^'^wissas^^ 
years "and the universe is as anwAft^^sA^^'^s^^'^^'^ 



316 Wesley's philosophy. 

the universe,— every particle may be in reality, as 
it is in the sight of its Maker, a world, proportion- 
ally as well peopled as the world which we inhabit ; 
and in so far as animal existence is concerned, 
it may be as instinct with life, and as redolent 
of enjoyment. When the £temal Son of God, 
embued with the wisdom and girded with the 
power of the Trinity, came forth to the glorious 
work of creation, amid the choral songs of the 
morning stars, and the joyful shouts of the spiritual 
children of the same Almighty Parent, 

** Number to that day's work was not ordained, nor magnitude;** 

the rejoicing spirits who witnessed those wonders of 
creative energy upon which it is not given to the 
eye of flesh to look, and before which the mind of 
man falls down humbled and revering, in its own 
littleness, had only to stand and behold the wonders 
of his power — 

** Stand still, in bright array, ye saints I here stand, 
Ye angels ! '* 

Some of the living creatures which come within 
this division of the animal kingdom, are so very 
minute, that one hundred and twenty thousand of 
them, taken in their largest dimensions, would not 
exceed an inch in length ; and therefore, a single 
cubic inch of space would contain one thousand 
seven hundred and twenty-eight billions of them ; or, 
expressing it by the common figures of arithmetic, 

1,728,000,000,000,000, 
which is a immber that the whole human race 
could hardly have counted over in individual 
beings, although they had been occupied at it in 
their successive generations since the days of Noah. 

Of course, when vie come to those mysterious 



MINUTE ANIMALS. 317 

bounds, our knowledge is vague ; and all the par- 
ticular indications and functions of life are blended 
or lost in the single one of motion. There is, how- 
ever, a wonderful correspondence of advantage in 
our observation of the motion, and of the apparent 
magnitude of that which moves; because the 
same property of the microscope, which magnifies 
ihe apparent volume of the substance, multiplies 
in exactly the same proportion the rate of the 
motion; and thus the revealment which science 
gives us of the living creatures substantively, 
and of life as a function, is the same in extent and 
perfection. ' 

We find also, from careful examination of some 
of those creatures which, though not so exceedingly 
minute as those alluded to, are still beyond the 
power of the naked eye, a distinct organization, 
and the functions of life going on with great vigour 
and activity, in feeding, in re-production, and in all 
the more essential operations of the animal system, 
as we find them displayed in the largest animals 
with which we are acquainted. Such being the 
case, it is not for us to affix the bounds of our 
limited powers to what the Almighty can produce ; 
and therefore there is no more impossibility in an 
animal, a countless number of times less than the 
smallest which we have mentioned, being as com- 
pletely organised and as energetic in all its func- 
tions, than there is in a caterpillar consisting of a 
much more curious and elaborate muscular system 
than a whale, or than there is in a flea being, in 
proportion to its size, an incalculably more ener- 
getic animal than an elephant. 

In fact, it is in these, which we are apt to con- 
sider as the more insignificaut. dsvd W% "^^i^s^ 




318 Wesley's philosophy. 

parts of the system — and we do this, merely from 
the tendency which we have, very incorrectly, and 
therefore very unwisely, to associate superior power 
with mere hulk, — it is in these parts that we 
obtain our most correct notions of creation and the 
Creator ; Itecause they let us see, that though He 
18 pleased, in every case, to work by means, yet 
the means are so under His government, that He 
can direct them to the accomplishment of any 
purpose of His will. These reflections, and 
numerous others of the same strain and tendency, 
very naturally present themselves to the mind, 
when we turn our attention to this division of the 
animal kingdom ; but we must leave the reader to 
follow out his own reflections ; and briefly advert 
to the general characters ofthe grand division, and 
of the classes and orders of which it is composed. 

Radiated animals differ even more in shape, and 
in size, and in consistency, than any other of the 
invertebrata ; so that if we were to attempt any 
general definition or description of them from those 
appearances which they present to the eye of com- 
mon observation, we should not be able to find any 
thin^ at all applicable to, or in any way descriptive 
of, the whole of the grand division, or even the 
whole of one of the classes into which it has been 
formec^. 

There is only one common character in these 
animals, and it is an internal one, rather than an 
external ; but still, after we once understand it as 
applicable to the internal structure, we find that i\ 
is equally applicable to the external form. This 
character will perhaps be most clearly under- 
stood, if we contrast it with that of all the other 
grand divisions, vjYi\t\v, V^^ xdm^ -^^^H^t they in- 



SYMMETRY ON A PLANE. 319 

dividuallj differ from each other, have yet one 
character in common. All animals which are not 
radiated, are organised upon a mesial plane, which 
has a definite situation in the hody ; so that if the 
body is divided, or supposed to be divided upon 
this plane, the two halves are symmetrical; or the 
exact counterparts of each other. It sometimes 
happens, indeed, that the one half is a little more 
developed than the other ; and we sometimes can 
assign a reason for this difference of development, 
and sometimes not ; but still if we do not find all 
the parts and members in the one side which we 
find in the other, when we divide the animal on 
the mesial plane, we consider it as an imper- 
fect production, whether the imperfection happens 
to consist in the one side having a part too few, or 
the other side a part too many. In all those organs 
which are single in the body of the perfect ani- 
mal, the mesial plane divides the common organ ; 
but there are some organs which connect the two 
symmetrical halves of the animal ; and, therefore, 
the halves of these have not necessarily exactly 
the same function, and consequently not the same 
structure, taken in the details. But if we make 
allowances for this we can say, with perfectly 
general truth, that all animals except the radiate 
are capable of symmetrical division upon the 
mesial plane. This plane is generally speaking 
vertical, or perpendicular to the horizon, when the 
animal is in what we call its natural position, and 
it invariably divides the body lengthways. The 
plane cannot be turned from side to side, so as to 
divide more on one end of the animal and less on 
the other, neither can it be inclined from the per- 
pendicular so as to divide more from, tbft Qk\s& ^^ 



820 WESLEY*6 PHILOSOPHT. 

and less from the other at its opposite edges, with- 
out destroying the symmetry of the two parts; 
and it is this constant reference of both ends and 
both edges of the mesial plane, to the same points 
in the surface of the animal, which makes the orga- 
nisation fixed to this plane, or as it were founded 
on it. A plane has both length and breadth, or is 
developed or extends in two ways crossing each 
other; and, though we cannot perhaps distinctly 
draw any very important conclusion from it, it is 
not a little curious that all those animals which 
have this double development, or development in 
two directions crossing each other, as the basis, so 
to term it, of their organisation, have that organi- 
sation the most completely developed in all its parts. 
There is one other circumstance worthy of notice 
in this organisation upon a plane ; and that is, that 
the plane, being as it were tied to two directions in 
the animal, does not admit of any kind of change 
of position ; and, therefore, animals which have a 
proper mesial plane, are never reproduced by 
dividing the body of the one individual in what 
direction so ever the division may be made : — such 
are the foundations of the organisation of all 
animals which are not radiated; let us now turn 
to those which are, and mark the leading distinc- 
tion. 

The radiated animals have, as their common 
character, the basis of their organisation not a 
mesial plane but a line, or one or more lines pro- 
ceeding like rays from a centre, or ranging parallel 
to each other, each as a centre of organisation, 
without any necessary TVilerevic^ \.q \Wvc being in 
the same plane. It vs \.o \i^ \v\v^v-c'sXft^\*m"Cjc«.^asft 
of these as weW as o^ aW o\Xv^x ^xvvm^^.^^^^V^^ 



BASIS OF ORGANISATION. 321 

we speak of a plane, a line, or several lines, as the 
basis of the organisation, we make no allusion what- 
ever to the origin, the production, or even the 
function of growth, in the animal. What we allude 
to is the mere situation of the plane or line upon 
which the body of the animal can be symmetrically 
divided; and when the radiated animal has its 
organisation based on a single line, it may be 
sjrmmetrically divided in any plane which coincides 
with that line, however it may be situated in the 
cross direction. If, therefore, we take the circum- 
ference or surrounding parts of the animal about 
this line, we find that those on all sides of it in the 
same cross-section have exactly the same relations 
to it, which is not the case with animals that have 
their organisation based on a plane. 

The general form of organisation in these animals 
is either radiation or parallel lines — generally the 
former; and the radiation is in many instances so 
perfect that the animal assumes the form of a star. 

The modes of production among these animals 
vary considerably; but very many of them can 
be produced by mechanical division of the bodies 
of the existing ones ; and in the natural way very 
many, probably indeed the greater number, are 
produced by new radiations from the basal lines — 
something after the same manner as the buds or 
seeds of plants, which also are produced by exten-' 
sions of certain lines within the plant ; which lines 
in the better developed, and more easily examined 
plants, bear some resemblance to the radiating lines 
in the animals under consideration. 

From this coincidence we receive a lesson which 
is not without its use. TVioae ce«k\?t^\\^^^'> "Si^-*^^ 
extremitiea of which the gexm« «3cA ^^fe^^ ^"^ ^<$«si^*^ 
VOL. n. Y 



322 WXSLBT's PHIL080PHT. 

are produced, have in themselves nothing to do 
with the production of the germ or seed, or even 
with the function of life and growth in the plant. 
In most trees, perhaps in all which enjoy a winter s 
repose, the wood of the tree ceases to have any 
direct share in the living function of the tree after 
it has heen encased in even one new layer of wood; 
and the same year's growth, or the suhstance 
actually produced during the year, never produces 
seed or fruit twice over; for unless a new pro- 
duction is made after once fruiting, the tree is for 
ever barren. In this we see that the foundation 
of the organisation and the origin of the life are 
very different matters ; that, in fact, the organisa- 
tion from its very beginning is a product of the 
life ; and it does not appear that the genuine germ 
of a plant, which is the seedling, ever contains in 
its substance a single atom of the matter of the 
parent plant, except in so far as that matter has 
been stored up as food in the seed or otherwise, 
and is assimilated by the organs of the young 
plant, and thus rendered a new substance before it 
becomes part of the new structure. 

We must therefore look upon the production, 

origin, and function of life in animals as something 

distinct from the matter of which those animals 

are composed, and as having power over it, just 

as a workman has power over his materials, but 

only to a much higher degree of perfection; and 

that this addition to the mere existence of matter, 

considered as substance, which is from its very 

nature passive to life and even to growth, can be 

22othing other than, aictloxi of some kind or other; 

because in all the vanetV^^ o^ VJsv^ xssaXKtv^ ^\^is&kscL^ 

after the act oi creaUTv^^ia^ aii^%^^'^\xss^^V\i^ 

we cannot, ^itYiout tVe mo^x. ^^\^^\^^ ^^^^^^^^ 



THERE IS ALWAYS A PARENT. 323 

«nd absurdity, admit of any thing besides matter 
as a substance, and those laws or modes of action, 
general or particular, which are set over it to con- 
troul it as a substance. In this view of the matter, 
though we can understand from the form of the 
organisation, which is of course determined by the 
law of life which has been given to every species, 
how one species of plant or animal can be pro- 
pagated by mechanical division of its substance, 
and another cannot ; yet we cannot, without involv- 
ing ourselves in the most palpable absurdity, 
imagine that either plant or animal can produce 
upon itself a mechanical division of this sort, with- 
out some consent or conjunction of two principles, 
however obscure or even inscrutable — some act of 
organisation, however small and rudimental ; and 
whether, according to our common modes of speak- 
ing, the parent may be of one sex, or two sexes, or 
apparently of no sex at all ; which last is generally 
the condition of those gemmiparous animals which 
produce their young in buds without any apparent 
«exual intercourse which we can trace. 

In every case, however, the principle is the same: 
there is a descent from a parent, or rather from the 
consent or conjunction of two parent principles, 
which forms an act of life, whether that life shall 
be sooner or later developed, or even developed at 
all ; and thus, down to the most apparently humble 
animal or plant, though certain modifications by 
external circumstances are necessary, and for that 
reason exist in all, there is no more power in any 
one species to change to another, than there is in 
one piece of matter essentially to create another 
piece. We can understand \\ve TEk^^\^<i»!c\Si\sa»^ «^^ 
mIso gee how necessary \t \s \)ftaX >Odl«^ ^<5k\iS.^^''5^'» 



•A-.-:r 



mir 



S84 wuLBY^s PHiMterar*^ - 

IB order to give the play wUdi k Be^eMHuy.»tibv 
working of a system whidi consistB. oC so mug[ 
parts. We caa understaikd this^ just as we e^ 
UDderstand how a wOTlcman can mould and &shieB 
a piece of gold by beadag it on an iron anvil with 
an iron hammer; bnt we can no more imagine thai 
external circumstances <— which are nothing more to 
the animal or the plant than the anvil and tW 
hammer are to be gold— -can originate the animd 
which they modify, than we can imag^ tiiat die 
anvil and hammer can originate the goUL J^at 
is it unworthy of remarhythat thetransmutalioii 
of metals was a general belief in the daya of ^;no- 
rance; and that it is precisely akin to the tzanso 
mutation of plants or animals, or that transmntfr' 
tion which is sometimes supposed to take plaee 
between them and matter, the doctrine of which is 
always now and then breaking out in one form or 
another, by those who bring to the study of nature . 
more of the waywardness of fancy than of the 
wisdom of philosophy. 

The nervous system is never very apparent in 
any of the radiated animals; and in the greater 
number it cannot even be traced as a distinct system 
of organisation ; but in all eases where it can be 
traced, it is always in a radiated form, proceeding 
from one or more centres ; and when there are 
more centres than one, however indistinctly trace- 
able they may be, each centre when separated is 
capable of producing the complete animal. 

There is never any true system of circulation in 
animals of this division. Some species, indeed, have 
a double organ oi \e%^^*>oue part of which is 
attached to ihe Vntefttm^ii^at «&:safc\i\a5:^ vi^^^v^^&saa^ 
here it appeara V> ^T^oxm '^ w8b» ^«!i /^ 



ORGAl«ISATlON OF KADIXtA. 82S 

fanciion of respiration, or at least a function simi^ 
iar in its effects; while the other part serves 
merely for inflating or erecting those simple organs 
which serve as substitutes for feet. In very many, 
liowever, no vessels whatever can be traced ; and in 
these there can be nothing at all answering to a 
•system of circulation, by means of which the 
nourishing fluid goes successively to send returns 
from the diflerent parts of the body of the animal. 
Hence the nourishment which is applied to the 
different parts must be wholly appropriated there ; 
and it does not appear that there is in the system 
any waste which it is necessary to remove by suc- 
cessive actions of an absorbent system. Indeed the 
functions which these animals have to perform are 
so few, and the performance of them is so slow, 
that there can be little waste in the system ; and 
thus, while they are the most passive, they appear 
also to be the most enduring of all animals. Some 
of them have a distinct alimentary canal, with an 
opening at each extremity ; but others have the 
interior of the body a simple sac, with only one 
opening for every purpose. Some have even no 
visible mouth or opening into the body at all ; and 
therefore they must receive whatever nourishment 
they require by means of pores in the skin. In 
some species there are distinct sexes, though very 
many are within themselves complete hermaphro- 
dites; but there are also others which have no 
local or perceptible organs of generation, but which 
reproduce their kind by buds or germs, which are 
produced inctiscriminately in different parts of their 
bodies. 

It does not appear lYiat wcl^ q"1 VJckXWfc ivsisg^^x. 
^raaeqres are capable of UTOi^m^"^^***^^- '^^^ 



r" ' ■ '\iK. -'. ■ 






gretler rnimber ate inhmbitaati' of "witw, «bcI;i 
are found in oUier liquids ; and then are a eootf* 
derable number wbich inhabit ihe inleiBal paiti d 
other ammaku 

In one respect sereral ol them ressmfble those 
moUusca which grow in cUntersi as was formeiij 
mentioned of the bemacle; but the radiated animab 
which have this habit are &r mere nnmerons, and tiie 
eongregations of them form stmoturesof an ahnost 
endless variety of formsy and composed of matter of 
various degrees of hardness and tenacity; but, 
generaUj speaking* consisting of salts A lime 
cemented together by animal matter* The wIm^ 
history of ^ob grukd division of the animal king- 
dom is imper^Mct and obscure ; and tberdbre the 
arrangements which have been formed oi. ihem are 
only rude approximations upon whidi implicit reli- 
ance cannot in every instance be placed. They are 
usually divided into five classes, the characters of 
which are, however, not very precise ; neither is 
it possible so to name and define them, as that 
each shall be expressive of all the animals which 
it is necessary to include under it. — We shall 
now mention the leading characters of these five 
classes. 

1. Echinodermatc^ << or spiny skinned animals.** 
These appear to be the most perfectly developed of 
the whole grand division. They have, generally 
speaking, spinous appendages to the skin, which 
answer the purposes of a very slow kind of locomo- 
tion ; and their organisation, though by no means 
of a high degree, is much more developed than 
that of most of the olVv^x^. They have a distinct 
a/imentary canaV "wiI\l or^iNoa oH.\«ssJ\T^<«i«»^^ssL^ 
ration, and at least a paxtaaN. ^^sq^Vwhl ,, «A.^wba 



CLASSES OF RADIATA. 327 

of them make slight approaches toward some mol« 
luscous animals. They are all inhahitants of the 
waters, though some of them hurrow in the sand or 
mud at the bottom. 

2. Entozoa^ or " inhabitants of the bodies of 
other animals," cliiefly the intestinal canal, on 
which account they are termed " intestinal worms." 
Some of these have a true cavity in the body ; but 
they are all much inferior in their organisation to 
the animals of the first class. 

3. Acalepha^ or '^sea nettles." These have 
no organs of respiration which are visible, and no 
approximation to a circulating system. They have 
-only one opening to the body ; and the body is 
generally round or radiating, and consists, in many 
of the species, of a thin gelatinous liquid, with a 
few vessels floating in it : and this liquid is often of 
so caustic a nature as to blister the skin ; and even 
the dried substance of the animal produces very 
unpleasant sensations. 

4. Poh/pu These are gelatinous animals, often 
of small size, but differing both in size and in form. 
Their numbers are almost incredible ; and consider- 
ing their small bulk, the labours which some of them 
perform in the waters, would, if not well established 
by actual observation, exceed the bounds of all 
ordinary credibility. 

5. Infusoria. These are the exceedingly minute 
beings to which we alluded in the early part of 
this chapter, and which were very little known 
before the invention and improvement of the mi- 
croscope. The numbers of them are perfectly 
incredible, occurring chiefly in stagnant waters, 
BDd, g-enerally speaking, i^Teftfe\i\xn%x£Nfc\^ ^s^^- 
tinous body, without aoy Bjp^eaxMtfife ^*i^ x>aR5sc5^ 
When examined by hy i ^ Vonr«m^^% ^»»a 

4 



Of tn^Bii CTJMMt B vcfy wiriuoi' ntavBU '-stnifilHVij' 
and they are also ramaikaUe for their actinljryjaris 
tiie tenaciW of thdr Hvea. We shall mentioii k- 
few <tf the leadiiig divinaiis of each ckflB. 

Class I. — EcHiNODBEifATA; This is a Wy. 
sii^iplar and hy no means uuinleresU ng daas m 
animals. Thej have po skelelon, and thcnr >!*• 
wiUMNit any of those speplle organs «hidi raane^ 
terise the more eompletely dev^oped animalt:; hal 
still there is a heantiftd diq^y of wisdom in Aar 
stmctofe- They are ahmysesvered with a wel 
organind skiny which in some of ^tfie speciesy as in 
the echini — or sea hed|ge-hogs» as Aey an often 
^aHedy from the qvpearsnee tsi their ooverin^ er 
sea eggs, from Uie shape of their bodiea — has As 
oonsistency of shdI,ornflier <tf cnist. Theeofsi^ 
ing of these is famished wilh spines* whidk aik 
articulated and moTeable at the pleasure oi As 
animals, so that they answer the purpose of a soft 
of feet. The whole class have an mtemal cavity to 
the body, contaiuing distinct viscera ; and they-have 
the rudiments of a system of circulation and respi- 
ration ; but the connexion of this system at the one 
extremity is with the intestinal canal, while the other 
part of it appears to be chiefly directed toward the 
moving of the feet. They are also furnished with 
a sort of fibres, which are supposed to be nerves» 
though this part of their system is not so regular 
and complete as the rest ; but it is consistent with 
the general economy of nat urOi that we should find 
the greatest approximation to a nervous system in 
that part of the order which is endowed with the 
nearest approach Vo e^ T%\gQN»x ^^^^^m of organs ef 
motion. ***^ 



gypooni 



ECHINODERMATA. 329 

dages to the skin, or rather with certain cylindrical 
elongations, which are protusile through apertures 
of the skin. These are generally cylindrical in 
their form and membranous in their substances, 
terminated by small discs on their extremities, 
which act something after the manner of suckers, 
as the animals can adhere by means of them to the 
surfaces of rocks, or other fixed substances ; and 
they can also change their localities by the help of 
the same organs. The other orders are destitute of 
these appendages, and have the body invested in a 
leathery skin. The first order are, on account of 
their imitation feet, called Pedicellata^ and the 
other order, from the want of these appendages, 
are denominated Apoda, or footless. 

Pedkellata. The distinguishing character of 
these animals has been already mentioned, namely, 
their substitutes for feet; and though these are 
without distinct articulations, and generally speak- 
ing of a soft consistency, and capable of being in 
great part withdrawn within the general covering 
of the animals, yet they are by no means so inef- 
ficient, either as feet, or as a sort of hands, as one 
would be led to suppose. These feet are extended 
by the animal propelling into them a portion of the 
fluid which is contained in the general cavity of 
the body ; and of course they must be furnished 
with numerous and curious muscles for the per* 
formance of this operation. Those feet exist in 
hundreds on the same animal ; and they are capa- 
ble of protrusion or shortening in all directions, so 
that many of the species at least can either adhere 
or move from place to place with any side of their 
hody uppermost, according a« xaaN Xs^ XL^^sftssasr^* 
The genua most common on liSftftaf^^^^'^^'^ '^ 



thai whielif from iti itap-like fism^ bu beat wBad 
the Btar-fidi (.^mot)* Thk eooiiiti^f tiparing 
ra^rty ibnned like thoee with wbicfa a star k ipootv^ 
Tally represented in painting, all emanating frem 
a centre, the aiis <tf which across liie diredkm of 
the points or arms, is considered as the centre el 
radiation. The rays or arms are» generally speak* 
ing, five in number, of equal sise, and plaeed at 
equal distances. In the centre of these^ and under* 
neath, is placed the mouth, which is the only open^ 
ing into the cavity of the body. These animals.eoii- 
sist of a sort d frame-work of crustaceoua piecei; 
and the mouth is fiimished with a sort of teeth sf 
bone^ by means of which they can break the shdls sf 
the small moUusca and Crustacea upon which thsy 
feed. Thecommon red star-fish is thomoetabuadsnt 
one upon the British shores, where it inhabits rods 
or sands, but more frequently the former, and gene^ 
rally between the lines of high and low water. 
The colour, as the name imports, is reddish, and 
each ray of the star is marked on the upper side by 
a furrow ; while the central part of the body to 
which the rays are united, is nearly a hemisphere, 
or rounded on the upper part, and flat on that 
which contains the mouth. The tentacula, or 
organs of prehension and motion, are on the sides 
of the rays, and they are exceedingly numerous, 
amounting to fifteen or sixteen hundred in some 
single specimens ; so that with the exception per- 
haps of some other members of the same order, 
these star-fish have a greater number of feet than 
perhaps any other animals. When the animal is 
thrown on its back^ l\ie telq\\q»w ^bich it makes in 
protruding and witVi^eN^wk^^Jtvoa^feXfe^sNass^^^^ 
«>derable. So, bIbo^ ^^e«i Vt "^'^ ^^ ^x«» ^^i^. 



STAR FISH. 831 

it can make considerable use of the rays as organs 
of swimming. From the cavity of the body into 
which the mouth opens, there extends a canal or 
tube into each of the rays, which tapers towards 
the extremity in the same manner as they do ; and 
it is from this canal that those branches are given 
off which assist in working the tentacula, by inject- 
ing them with fluid. It must be understood, how- 
ever, that those rays, and the canals which extend 
along them, are not in the direction of the axis 
upon which the animal is organised, but in the 
cross direction. These animals have the same 
power of restoring parts which are broken off, as 
we formerly remarked in the Crustacea ; though it 
is not clearly ascertained, that, if the central part of 
the body is divided, the segments of it will produce 
perfect animals ; but if one of the rays is by any 
means broken off, that ray is soon replaced, and it 
is sometimes replaced by two, or by one and a 
branch, either of which gives the animal an irre- 
gular form. These animals serve as the food of 
various kinds of rock fishes ; and it is supposed 
that, at certain seasons of the year at least, they 
impart a poisonous quality to the fishes which feed 
on them, though the fact rests more on conjecture 
than on positive evidence. 

There are a good many species of this genus ; 
and of one at least, the Medusa's Head star-fish 
(A. caput MeduscB)^ various marvellous stories 
have been told ; such as that it can so entangle a 
ship's boat as to draw it under the water ; and that 
it can seize with its arms, not only fishes of con- 
siderable size, but even the albatros, and other 
large sea birds, when tliey aWi^X. ww ^^ ^«oaL\M5»« 
There ia very little probability Vxx «k^ ^^ '^^'«*^ 



- •■ ■ - - ^1 If. ■■-■jr.' ••!. «. 

en wwLBT'i^ MflEotontt. 

ttories; and the fiusi«hgtiilien'<fe-aidhA'i^^ 
it geoenlly hat the mouth iiiidenBMMt» abd tte'iiji 
bcniding in the tame directioiii temk' in bo vi^'IJ^ 
increase the protaahility* It is, howefer, a yritf 
large animal, considering tibe division to vUcl 
it belongs ; its habit appears to be mneh mMit 
that of swimming in the free watetv and hMa^ 
there, than that oi the species which arts found oil 
our shores; and to assist in this more habitiill 
swimming, and ranging the ocean in aeareh of ill 
lbod,'the * rays d whsdi it is composed are nndi 
ifiore developed and complicated at their estremitisl 
than those ^ the common star-fish. Tlie prindpal 
divisions are five^ as in the others ; and they are 
placed at regular distanoes roond the centre of the 
body. But here the paralldi aids ; for eadi ny 
soon divides into two, each branch into two, and 
each of these secondary branches into two again ; 
until, in a large specimen, the ultimate points are 
between two and three thousand in numb^. 
Whether this extreme branching of the rays, 
which appears to go on as the animal increases in 
size, is intended for the capture of any sort of food, 
or merely for swimming, and for producing a cur- 
rent which may bring food within the reach of the 
mouth, has not been ascertained ; but in the dried 
specimens which are met with, the terminations of 
the arms, or rays, are often so completely entan- 
gled with each other, that it is not easy to separate 
them, or to count their number. From the pecu- 
liar form of the rays in this one, some naturalists 
have formed it into a separate genus; and there 
are some others 'TtVucVv ha.Ne the rays diffBrently 
divided ; but atVUL onVj ^Ne Qn%ai«\. ^Ti^^^xasf^i^ ski 
M crustaceoiiB or abfeW^ ^^ «^ ^^ \jw3fc»«t ^^ 



ECHINI. dd3 

opposite to that in which the mouth is placed. 
Some of these last have an additional set of rays 
under the others, which are not branched at their 
extremities; and which are possibly used for the 
purpose of seizing the food and conveying it to 
the mouth. Those larger species, which swim and 
feed in the free waters, and probably entangle their 
prey in the living net with which they are so 
curiously furnished, are chiefly found in the tropi- 
cal and southern seas ; but besides the one which 
we have mentioned, there are several others which 
inhabit the temperate and polar seas, some of which 
are free swimmers, and form part of the food of the 
whalebone whales. 

The Encrinites {Encrinus) have their rays or 
arms jointed and divided into a number of branches 
variously ramified. Only one small species is known 
as inhabiting our seas in a living state ; but as is the 
case with the sea-stars, there are larger and much 
more complicated ones in the warm seas ; and there 
are vast numbers found in the earth in a fossil state. 

The Sea Hedgehogs, or Sea-eggs, (Echinus,) 
are, if possible, still more singular. They have 
the body nearly globular, but flattened a little on 
the upper and the under part, in the middle of the 
last of which the mouth is situated. The covering 
of the body is a calcareous crust, formed of seg- 
ments very neatly and uniformly joined together, 
and pierced with a vast number of little holes, 
placed in very regular rows, through which the 
moveable appendages or feet are protruded. The 
crust is also beset with hard spines, articulated 
upon small tubercles, by means of which they also 
contribute to the locomotioiv oi \}cl<& ^xcLXfi^.^^^^^^^^^ 
can at pleasure move them m iJ^^ ^^Rjwsvi.'^ >s^^i^ 



3S4 fnsLn*« ^mwtmonr* 



the tnberde. Then we ako odier wsffm^^KJgmm 
the ibnn inflexible membnoous mbet; eo tluitihe 
covermg of the aiiiiiial ie not ahogeliher vnlike 
thet €i the common hedgehog when it roUi itntf 
into abelL The month is fnrnished with five teeth^ 
resembling the penes dm firenrided lantern ; and tbs 
intestinal canal is ample^ and coiled in a spiral form 
round the inner side of the crust. Tliey feed iqioB 
small shelled mollusoa, which they seiae by mssns 
of their tentaeula ; bat their motiona are eompata* 
tively slow. Thej hare two openings to the body < 
and regular apparatus for the production of thefar 
young, which apparatus is five^fold. There are a 
good many ensting species of them ; and some cf 
them are not uncommon in the European aess; 
though the crusts are much more abundant tin 
the living animalsy unless the latter are sought for 
in some depth of water. It is not known methev 
they cast their crusts in the same manner as the 
Crustacea ; bat the number of crusts that are met 
with on the beaches, compared with the number of 
living animals, renders this at least not improbable. 
HolothurtOy sometimes called sea-slugs, is of an 
oblong form, with an opening at each extremity; 
their covering is leathery, and their mouths are 
furnished with complicated tentaeula. One species, 
of a black colour, found in the Mediterranean, mea* 
sures a foot and more in length; and there are 
others of still larger dimensions in the tropical 
seas, especially on the coral bottoms in the clear 
water. Some of these are finely coloured ; and when 
seen among sea weeds, corals, and other pro- 
ductions of the warm ^esA^ ^bere life is equally 
singular and active, \i!iaw5 T«afi«2^E^^ ^?as!Qss&«s^^5i4 
other fruits of ibat fawa\^% ^^aSaX. wofe. ^ ^ 



ENTOZOA. SSa 

radiata of other classes have much of the beauty 
as well as the form of flowers. 

Apoda. The footless echhiodermata bear a con- 
siderable resemblance to the genus holothuria ; but 
they generally have the body enlarged at the head, 
and furnished with appendages at the opposite extre- 
mity. Their skins are of a leathery texture ; and, 
like the former order, they are produced from eggs. 
Many of them are anxiously sought after by the 
fishermen for baiting their hooks ; and some of them 
are used for human food, but not held in so much 
estimation as are several members of the former 
order. The echini form a considerable part of the 
subsistence of some of the rude nations which inhabit 
the margins of the waters, particularly among the 
oriental islands, and toward the north shore of New 
Holland ; one or two species of holothuria are 
captured in great numbers by the Malays, who 
carry them chiefly to the Chinese market, in which 
they fetch a very high price. They are prepared 
by being split open and dried ; and as they consist 
of very fine gelatine, they are described as forming 
the substantial ingredient of a very wholesome and 
nutritious soup. 

Class II. — Entozoa. These are very remark- 
able creatures, because the greater number, if not 
the whole of them, are incapable of living and propa- 
gating their kind in any other situation than within 
the bodies of living animals; and so generally are 
they distributed, that there is scarcely one species of 
animal which does not afford, within the substance 
of its body, a home and a pasture for various species 
of these singular parasites. It is also rare to fiiuL 
the same species upon two wvvcaaNa, xw^rsa •^vs%& 
animalB are very nearly aWied \« «8j^ o'Co^st. 'XNiS^!^ 



886 WVSLW't PBiUMOVBT. 

abode u not oonfined to ai^ one loeditjr in liv 
animale, at is the eaae with looie '<Mher pataaHii 
which are fiHmd cuAj in the inteitinAl canala.ar 
taldng up their abod» in acme one looalitjr of an 
animal's body» for passing one stage of their chaagi- 
fbl life. The entosoa live only in the plaoes idudi 
have been described; they take up their abode 
permanently in those plaoes ; and eadi selectSy oT} 
to speak more corre^y^ is brought to matoritv 
only in that part of the animal which agrees, wiu 
its peculiar habit. Some are found in the intestiDd 
canialy and in the ducts which discharge thdr eoi^ 
tents into that passage ; others axe found in As 
liver, others again in Uie cellular tissue of vaiioas 
parts; and some are found only in thooe parts 
which appear to be most secured, by the stmctors 
of the animal to which they belong, from the inrosds 
of every thing foreign, — such, for instance, as the 
internal substance of the brain in man, or the other 
warm-blooded animals. 

The notion which we naturally attach to Ihese 
internal parasites is anything but pleasant ; and yet 
it appears that, just as is the case with the parasi- 
tical caterpillars which feed upon the internal sub- 
stance of caterpillars of other and larger species, these 
parasites are not speedily or decidedly mortal in their 
attacks ; neither do they occasion a very great deal 
of inconvenience, unless in the event of their num- 
bers increasing to such an extent as that the struc- 
ture of the part in which they take up their abode 
is destroyed. They are of various forms, and 
divided into two orders, which contain many species. 
One of the most auuoyixk^ tAman> if we are to give 
full credit to the reporta ^iOTiCfcTD:\\v^\W^^^^Ns^ 
worm. This belongs to VJaa \BgB»& FUi«no^ ^ 



GUINEA WORM. 337 

those which are thread shaped. One or other of 
them is found in almost every species of animal 
that can be named, and^ they make their appear- 
ance in places where there appears to be no en- 
trance for them, such as in the substance of mem- 
branes, and the internal parts of the viscera. They 
often exist there in vast numbers, and sometimes 
in bundles enveloped in a common tunic or capsule, 
which they appear to make for themselves, out of 
the substance of the animal upon which they live. 
We must not wonder at this, because there are 
many diseased states of local parts of the system, in 
which the diseased matter forms a cyst or capsule 
for itself ; and in extirpating the production of the 
disease, if this capsule is not removed along with 
the substance which it contains, the disease is not 
eradicated ; and the matter of the disease breeds 
and accumulates again. Parasites of this descrip- 
tion are not confined to the larger animals, but are 
met with also in insects, in the larvae of insects, in 
molluscous animals, and indiscriminately in almost 
every living creature. The most annoying to man, 
however, as we have already observed, is the Guinea 
worm, which is slender, bi\t of considerable length, 
and seems to be produced by buds which can arise 
from any portion of its body. It is very common 
in hot climates, where it is said to introduce itself 
under the skin of the human body ; where it grows 
in length until it attains, according to reports, the 
length of ten feet, or even more. It is understood 
that, if it takes the direction of those parts of the 
body which are not immediately connected with the 
functions of life, it may remain for years ^vtJ^avil 
occasioning any very great de^e^ ^il ^tcecw^^^s^^ ^^ 
the other hand, if it takes t\i^ ^vc%c?C\q^ ^^ ^^"«s\ft» 

VOL. II. 2 



838 WE9L1Y*8 PHILOSOPHT. 

which are very essential, or yerj' mack endowed 
with sensation^ the effects which it produces are of 
a very painful and disagreeable character. While 
it remains whoUy conc^iled in the interior of the 
body, it cannot be extracted or destroyed by any 
known means ; but when it appears externally, an 
attempt is made to remove it,, by slowly drawing it 
from the body. Great care must be taken, how- 
ever, not to break it in the performing of this 
operation ; because, if it is broken, the fragment 
which is left, whether the head or the tail, is said 
to retreat deeper into the interior of the body, 
to grow more rapidily than before, and produce the 
most serious mischief. Some particulars told re- 
specting this animal require, however, to be verified 
by a more careful examination, though there is no 
doubt that, from the accounts, it must be a great 
annoyance. 

Other species which are peculiarly annoying to 
the human body, are those which are termed tape- 
worms (^Tcenia), the common tape-worm (T. 
lata), and the solitary tape-worm ( T, solium)* 
The common tape-worm is very long, flat, and 
composed of a number of joints, more or less con- 
spicuously distinguished from each other. These 
joints or articulations, are broad and short, and fur- 
nished with two lateral pores in each ; and adher- 
ing by the head, which is slender, it grows joint 
after joint, till it very often extends to more than 
twenty feet in length, and sometimes even to up- 
wards of a hundred. It draws its subsistence from 
the intestines by means of four suckers ; but whether 
its nourishment la l\ve wjfe^^xk^sft of the viscus, or 
the chyle, as taketixi^'Vi^^^^^a^Jj^^'^A^'^^^^*^'^^ 
easy to determine. T\i^ ^^^^^^ \«^.>n^x^s^\a.^^\. 



TAPE WORM. 339 

very correctly named, inasmuch as the common 
notion that only one can infest the howels of the 
same person at the same time is not correct. The 
joints of this one are longer than those of the com- 
mon tape- worm; but the animal itself does not 
attain the same length, being generally under ten 
feet, though sometimes much longer. Both species 
are exceedingly injurious and exhausting to those 
who have the misfortune to be afflicted by them, 
as the great rapidity of their growth occasions a vast 
drain on the system, and it is not without the greatest 
cGfficulty that they can be expelled. The pores which 
we have mentioned as being seated on the joints are 
the orifices of the ovaries ; and it should seem that 
whenever the joint is fully developed, the ova con- 
tained m it are in a condition for speedily attaching 
themselves to the intestines, and continuing the 
work of exhaustion, even after the parent animal in 
the greater part of its joints, or in the whole, is ex- 
pelled. Tape-worms may be regarded as among the 
most distressing and exhausting parasites which in- 
fest any description of animals ; and, under peculiar 
states of the human body, they occasion very 
grievous diseases. That they are not developed 
when the body is in vigorous health, whether the 
germs of them happen to be present or not, is 
tolerably well ascertained. But how the ^erms 
come into the body, or what are the particular 
forms of disease most favourable to their develop- 
ment and growth, has not been very clearly ascer- 
tained. Hence the expelling of the tape- worm 
opens a large field for the machinations of impos- 
tors, by whose ignorant pretensions and inadeqjiate 
nostrums, the health of tW v»^^^'5i\\^.v&\i^i^.^»^*^^^^ 
quently injured in ot\icT xfe^^^eXa, ^\^qv\\. «^ 

z2 



worm encouraged by the additional weaknc 
the organs, instead of being expelled fron 
system. The history of all the entozoae, 
especially those _which infect man and the 
useful domestic animals, have been in 
gated with patient and scientific research b] 
dolphi and others ; but the subject is still 
obscure. 

Those species, often denominated hydatid^ ' 
are found in the liver, and other parts ol 
hepatic viscera of various animals, and even in 
are also exceedingly troublesome. They oec 
most of the ruminating animals, and in tht 
and the horse. The common form is that 
small oval leaf, pointed at the posterior extn 
and narrowed in the fore part, which forms 
were a sort of stalk to the leaf-shaped part, 
feeding sucker is at the extremity of this nari 
portion, and it leads to the gullet, or a sort < 

tAfifinnI fnV»<». from u/liipli otliAr amnllar 



MEDUSA. 341 

sometimes popularly called the " sheep fluke,'* from 
a fanciful resemblance in its shape to that of a 
flounder. It is very liable to infest sheep which 
pasture on low and humid grounds ; and in circum- 
stances ^sivourable to its growth and reproduction, 
it soon multiplies so fast, that the sheep are seized 
with dropsy, their flesh wastes away, and they 
very speedily perish, nor does it app^r that the 
malady admits of any cure, except by the removal 
of them to dry and wholesome pastures, as soon as 
the slightest symptom of the attack appears. 

Class IIL— AcALEPH A, or sea nettles as they are 
vulgarly called, are all swimmers ; and they get this 
name from the painful stinging which many of them 
give to the hand when touched. They ar^e all inha- 
bitants of the sea ; and they float freely in the water 
without attaching themselves to any solid substance. 
While swimming they are often very conspicuous, 
and the fine membrane in which these gelatinous, 
and in great part fluid substances is invested, often 
has a rich play of prismatic colours ; but when 
they are stranded on the shores, which very often 
takes place after storms, as they have but little 
means of extricating themselves, they appear a 
shapeless mass of jelly, and if the membrane is 
broken they very soon disappear. The most cha- 
racteristic of the simple ones, or those which swim 
in the water by means of alternate contractions 
and dilatations, are the Medusee, of which there are 
a good many varieties, or perhaps even sub-species, 
but all have something of the appearance of the head 
of a mushroom in the upper part, at least in form ; 
though in the other parts of their organisation, if 
organisation it call be called, which consists of 
little else than a portion of liquid enclosed in a 



ANIMAL FLOWERS. 345 

reverse ; and they will close at the light of a 
candle, and expand again after the candle is with- 
drawn. This sensibility to light, even when pre- 
cautions are taken that there shall be very little 
difference of heat, is a curious fact in animals 
which are wholly unprovided with eyes, or organs 
of vision of any description whatever ; because it 
shows us that sensation is one thing, and a specific 
organ of sense another, not necessarily connected 
together ; for though the organ cannot perceive 
without the sense, it thus appears that the sense 
can perceive without the organ. Hence, an eye, 
or any other structure, to which we ascribe the 
power of receiving certain impressions of external 
objects, is considered as mere matter, nothing more 
than a passive instrument, under the controul of the 
living power, and framed for enabling that power 
to exert itself in a particular manner ; but having 
no part of the power inherent in itself, as an organic 
structure. 

In the seas of warm latitudes, the species of 
these curious animals are exceedingly numerous, 
and very elegant ; and the water, at a moderate 
depth, in those seas, is as transparent as crystal, 
so that in rowing over the shallows in still water^ 
.the bottom displays all the beauty of a splendid 
flower garden. In temperate climates, the numbers 
are not so abundant ; but there is at least one or 
more on the rocky shores of the British Islands, 
where it can be examined with the greatest ease, 
as it is found adhering to the rocks, and often in 
the bottoms of the shallow pools, when the tide 
ebbs away. The last are the best situations for 
observing its habits ; because, when it is in the 
pool, it is as active as though it were iu the sea ; 



846 WESLEV'S PHILOSOPHY. 

but when it is on the dry rock, its tentscula 
are withdrawn, and its mouth contracted like a 
purse. It is exceedingly voracious, and possessed of 
▼ery vigorous digestive powers. Its principal food 
consists of the smaller mollusca and Crustacea, 
from which it very speedily extracts the substance, 
and then ejects the shell or crust. The tentacula 
are used for seising the food, and drawing it to the 
mouth; and it appears that they have a very 
peculiar structure, which fits them for porfonning 
this operation in a singular manner. Those ten- 
tacula, though they have the appearance of the 
petals of a flower when expanded, are tubes ; and 
when any thing moveable touches the point of any 
of them, they have the power of instantly TOnvertiDg 
themselves into adhesive suckers. The manner in 
which this is done, is not very easily explained. 
The mere point of the tentaculum first touches the 
moving substance, and then it gradually doubles 
inward) or inverts itself, and thus soon forms a 
considerable base, to which the substance adheres 
by the joint pressure of the atmosphere and the 
water ; and in this way a single tentaculum will 
bring to the mouth a substance of considerable 
size. This substance is instantly swallowed or 
enclosed within the sac, even though only a stone 
or an empty shell ; but if it is such, it is very 
speedily ejected again. On the other hand, if it is 
a strong shelled animal, such as a common peri- 
winkle, which is not only enclosed in a hard and 
firm shell, very much convoluted, but has the aper- 
ture or mouth of the shell closed with a homy oper- 
culum, it is retained within the cavity of the body, 
until the substance is extracted, and then the shell 
13 thrown out. 



ilNIMAL FLOWERS. 347 

The power of life in these animals appears to 
be very great. In the usual mode of generation 
they are viviparous, and the young are discharged 
by the mouth. It is the base, however, which 
seems to be the essential part of the animal ; and 
it is here that the ova are originally formed. Some 
curious details of experiments on these animals, by 
the Abbe Dicquemarre, are given in the sixty-third 
volume of the Philosophical Transactions, which are 
in substance as follows : — In the first instance, the 
abbe cut off the tentacula, which were re-pro- 
duced in a month, and he repeated the operation 
for a second and third time with the same result. 
The upper part of one of the animals was also cut 
off, and the base was found in a few days after to 
have fallen from its place ; but the creature very 
soon after recovered its limbs. After cutting one 
of them in two, the abbe presented a piece of mus- 
sel to the detached part, and the limbs seemed 
again to receive it ; they pulled it into the mouth, 
and it was instantly swallowed ; but there being no 
body to contain it, the piece came out at the oppo- 
site end, just, as the abbe expresses it, as a man's 
head, being cut off, might be supposed to let out 
at the neck whatever was taken in at the mouth : 
it was offered a second time, and again received, 
and retained till the following day, when it was 
thrown out. It was fed ia this manner for some 
time, the pieces, when they did not pass through, 
appeared considerably altered on their re-appear- 
ance at the mouth. If the base itself of any of these 
anemones be injured by an incision, the wound 
generally proves fatal to the animal. On being put 
under an exhausted receiver, these animals did not 
appear to experience any bad effects, or to suffer 



348 Wesley's philosophy. 

any inconvenience from being deprived of atmo- 
spheric air. If the tentaciila happened to be ei- 
panded when placed in the receifer, they remained 
in that position, and not the slightest contraction 
was visible when the air was withdrawn. Some of 
these actinia lived upwards of a year on the ani- 
malculs afforded them by the sea water in which 
they were kept, without any other food. When 
shelled mollusco, bits of fish, or raw flesh, if not 
too lar^ for the size of the mouth, were offered to 
it, they were always swallowed ; and though the 
rtiells of a bivalve were closed when taken in, 
tliey were ejected, completely empty, in the course 
of a day or two. We have often fed the common spe- 
cies, actinia verrucosa, with periwinkles, shrimps, 
and other shelled and crusted animals, marking the 
shells or crusts as ftt» placed them on tbp tontaeula ; 
and unless there was some agitation of the water 
sufficient to carry them away, we invariably found 
the shells and crusts ejected, and completely empty, 
even to the small claws of the latter. 

The ZMcemarits bear a considerable resemblance 
to the former, only they are softer in the substance, 
and attach themselves by a very slender pedicle to 
the leaves of marine plants and other substances ; 
and their tentacula, instead of being expanded like 
a flower, are reflected downwards in the form of a 
small umbrella. 

The gelatinous polypi have no firm covering, nor 
any ajis in the interior of their bodies. They are 
exceedingly simple, and their whole organisation is 
a sort of little horn of gelatinous matter, with 
fringes, which are flie tenlaKuia. qE the animals, 
with which they seise tWu iwA, m^^ ^i i^.'^as. A 
which also they can awio^ ^lA.^N"v^te^KQS™t ^"^ 



GELATINOUS POLYPI. 349 

extreme simplicity of their organisation, some of 
these animals can crawl, or even walk, by alter- 
nately applying their extremities after the manner 
of leeches, and the geometrical caterpillars. The 
most extraordinary part of their economy, however, 
at least in the JiydrcBy which are the most charac- 
teristic species, is the manner in which they may 
be propagated. Naturally, the young are produced, 
not by specific organs allocated to particular parts 
of the body, but indiscriminately from almost every 
part; and they appear at first like little buds or 
sprouts, which increase till they acquire the form 
of the perfect animal, and then they separate. 
They may, however, be produced by mechanical 
division in almost any manner ; so that it is diffi- 
cult to find any portion of the body in which there 
is not a germ, or principle of life, which will pro- 
duce the other parts, and speedily change the frag- 
ment, or each fragment, if the body is cut into 
several, to a perfect animal. We have here, in so 
far as growth is concerned, a remarkable coin- 
cidence with the coronal plates of some roots, and 
the cambium or living matter of many species of 
trees, in both of which a bud, of which there is no 
previous trace, can be formed ; and this bud may, 
generally speaking, be separated and become a 
perfect plant, just as the segment of one of these 
creatures becomes a perfect animal. 

Many animals of this singular order are found 
in fresh water ; and not a few of them are too small 
for being at all discernible by the naked eye. 
Some have pedicles or foot-stalks, by means of 
which they adhere to the bodies of Qthec «3Qi\sfi^a2&\ 
and it is probable tliat^m iq»sl^ \sNaNacsiSi«a^^*^«\ j 



those formerly mentioned, 
these with each other appears to be 
of an exceedinglj' thin cpidenois or cuti 
is extended over the whole compound : 
colony, and which appears to be capab 
dudng- new developments at all points, 
seem also that there is a division of th 
and thinly integnmented family, in which t 
or, as they may be termed, the indii 
vdopments. are so obscure, that they h 
been observed. These have occasioned 
putes ammg the natural historians of f 
those of animals ; but it is now well as 
that,_however simple and destitute of distil 
they are real animaU and not vegetab 
corallines, which are often so elegantly fc 
finely branched that the lightest-growii 
are not more elegant, may be taken as k 
of these. ITiey have no eel' 



CORALLIKES. ^S& 

descriptioD. It should seem, therefore, that the 
only part of them which is alive is the .epidermis, 
which invests all ibe other (matter ; and from the 
way in which they are branched, this appears capable 
of producing buds or multiplications of the sub- 
stance at any point, the multiplication being made 
by a deposit from the inner surface of the epid^- 
.mis, upon the core which the epidermis invests. 
Some of these corallines have be^i employed in 
medicine ; but it does not appear that they have 
any particular merit in this way, farther than frooi 
the calcareous matter and the .soda which they 
contain. 

The third family are styled cortical, or those 
which have an internal substance like the former 
JTamily, but are enveloped in a thick fleshy or gela- 
tinous substance, in which there are cavities for the 
reception of the individual developments. Still 
there is the same : gradation in these as in the 
former ones ; for while in some the individual parts 
are very distinct, there are others in which it is 
impossible to trace them. One tribe ha,ve the' 
internal aiiis flexible or homy, and variously 
branched. This is covered >with a ;Soft skin or 
bark, in which particular developments may be 
observed in some of the tribe, but not in others. 
The skin or bark which contains the developments, 
and may be considered as the living part of the 
animal, very speedily perishes after death ; but the 
rest^ which seems to serve only as a support to 
the living part, is far more durable. These are 
styled fake corals, and sometimes black corals. 

A second tribe of this family have someti^^'^^ 
been styled stone plants ; \)eca\x%i& ^€vt NoIwss^j^ 
substance is of the consisteucy oi>\«wfe> «ixA.^^^'** 

VOL. I J. K K * 



no eart' 

and t»lJ 
,«. 'Hv 

ran be 



\B.nu, - 






854 wESLsr'g philosophy. 

grows rooted. One genus furnish the coral <tf 
commerce, which is well known for its heautilid 
red colour, and the polish of which it is suscept- 
ihle. This coral g^ws without any joints, hut it 
is slightly furrowed in a longitudinal direction. 
The cortical or living part is of a reddish colour, 
and contains a good d^ of carbonate of lime; 
and the deyelopments of the animals are furnished 
with eight toothed urms, which appear upon the 
stem not very unlike little flowers on the stem of a 
leafless plant. This coral is found afoundsntly m 
the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, and yarious other 
warm seas. 

The madrepores have some resemblance to the 
coral, though the matter of whidi they are com- 
posed is not so valuable in the arts. They con- 
sist of branched, rounded, tabular, or leaf-shaped 
masses, always produced in layers, and proceeding 
from centres. They often attoin a large size, and 
are of singular shapes. As they appear in col- 
lections, they resemble fantastically formed masses 
. of stone ; but, when alive, they are invested with a 
thick skin, which is the seat of life, and which is 
developed into separate polypi; and both they and 
the skin, when alive, are exceedingly sensitive to 
the touch. 

There are other polypi which resemble the last 
mentioned in their general structure, only they 
float in the free waters. They consist of a calca- 
reous axis, wholly enveloped in a living membrane. 
The polypi are confined to one part of the axis, so 
that the whole bears some slight resemblance to a 
feather. They in ^eivet%\. ^n^ w\i a. very brilliant 

phosphoric light. ^ ^ . 

Sponges are tYve\as\. ^otm ^l ^^^ ^tJw^^^xmss^ 



INFUSORIA. 355 

class of animals. They assume a vast number of 
shapes, from which the species are determined. It 
is not easy to distinguish the sentient or living 
part of these animals from the part not endowed 
with life. They contain little or no earthly salt, 
but are wholly composed of vegetable matter 
divideeLby a vast number of pores and tubes, all of 
which communicate With each other. The action 
of the sponges, when alive, is understood to consist 
in alternate expansions and contractions ; and when 
a sponge is recent, a peculiar fluid can be pressed 
out of it ; but hitherto no trace of a separate 
organic development has been found, though there is 
no doubt of its being an animal production and in 
all probability each sponge is, with the exception of 
■the liquid above alludjed to, an entire and separate 
animal. 

Class y. — Infusoria. These are the animal- 
culae to the extreme minuteness of some of which 
we have already alluded. They form the confine 
of the animal kingdom, and were indeed altogether 
unknown until the invention of the microscope. 
Some of them are furnished with organs; some 
have the power of changing the shapes of their 
bodies. Some appear harmless, or at least do no 
violence to any thing that our instruments can dis- 
cover. But there are others which are proportion- 
ally as voracious as the tiger on the land, or the 
shark in the sea. Altogether they are an extraor- 
dinary race; and their extreme minuteness, and 
wonderful powers of self enjoyment and preserva- 
tion, perhaps impress us more forcibly with the 
wonderful working of the Creator than any animaU 
of hirger growth. But t\ie detac^^ o^ >[)cw^\t\»s.Ys^'^ 
^re not exactly adapted for i^^\]\ax ^\a^^'3ft?^'»^^^* 

A a2 



aSfl WESLEV's Pim.OSOPHV, ^^ 

muph as they can be obaen-cd only by those who 
have the best iDstrumetits and abuDdant teUure for 
the use of them. We shall therefore pass them 
over, and close this Toliune by a few reflections im 
the subjects contained in it and ihe preceding 
as one general subject of rational and improving 
contemplation. 



CHAPTER vrir. 



From what has been stated In this and the 
preceding volume, but mui'e especially in this, 
the reader will see that tile variety of living crea- 
tures is almost beyond'our power ofounibers, even 
within the range of the eye, or the eye aided by the 
microscope; and we do not .know how many more 
races may be too minute for our most perfect 
instruments, or what number and variety may 
exist in the wide expanses and nnfatlioinable depths 
of the ocean, which have not hitherto come within 
the limits bf our observation. The functions which 
these perfomr, and the parts which they act in the 
grand system of nature, are as extensive as their 
numbers, and as varied as their structures. Similar 
functions, too, are ol^en performed by organizations 
which are very different ; eo that, when we con- 
template the whole, we cannot fail to perceire that 
He who formed the whole is capable of causing 
erv end to he &ccina^\^K\u:&, uAd. causing it to be 
nccompliBhed bj a-ii^ n\ea."KR ■, ns^i.^*. <s^^ !«*,'»& 
that every means -wtacV We\^»aw^^'^^^'^»^«^ 



REFLECTIONS. 357 

it may differ frcgn others, is the very best for the 
accomplishment of its appointed end. 

Now if the number of creatures, even in this 
lower world, be so exceedingly great ; how great, 
how immense, must be the power and wisdom of 
Him that formed them all I For as it argues far 
more skill in an artificer, to be able to frame both 
clocks, and watches, and pumps, and many other 
sorts of machines, than he would display in making 
but one of those sorts of engines ; so the Almighty 
declares more of his wisdom in forming such a 
multitude of different sorts of creatures, and all 
with admirable and unimproveable art, than if he 
had created but a few* 

Again : the same superiority of knowledge would 
be displayed, by contriving engines for the same 
purposes after different fashions, as the moving 
clocks or other engines by springs instead of 
weights ; and the infinitely wise Creator has shown, 
by many instances, that he is not confined to one 
only instrument, for the working one effect, but 
can perform the same thing by divers means. So, 
though most flying creatures have feathers, yet 
hath he enabled several to fly without them, as 
the bats, some sorts of lizards, and numberless 
sorts of insects. In like manner, although the air 
bladder in some fishes may be necessary for swim- 
ming ; yet are many so formed as to swim without 
it, as the cartilaginous kind, and also many of the 
bony fishes, which nevertheless ascend and descend 
at pleasure, although by what means we cannot telL 

But again, though God has tempered the blood 
and bodies of most fishes to their cold element) 
yet, to show he can ^preset^e va. ^<fc ^^'sSv. Nii'^^R^t 
a creature as hot as t\i«\BLXv^ xsiasKS»3^2^'»^^^^*^ 



358 Wesley's philosophy. 

placed a variety of the cetacea in the northern- 
most seas. And the copious fat wherewith their 
hody is inclosed, hy retaining the internal heat, and 
keeping off the external cold, keeps them warm 
even in the neighbourhood of the Pole. 

Another proof that God can, by different means, 
produce the same effect, is the various ways of 
extracting the nutritious juice out of the aliment in 
various creatures. 

In man and many other mammalia, the food first 
chewed is received into the stomach, where it is 
concocted and reduced into chyle, and so evacuated 
into the intestines, where, being mixed with the 
bile and pancreatic juice, it is farther subtilized, 
and rendered so fluid, that its finer parts easily 
enter the mouths of the lacteal vessels. 

In birds there is no chewing ; but in such as are 
not carnivorous, the food is immediately swallowed 
into the crop or ante-stomach, where it is moistened 
by some proper juice, and then transferred to the 
gizzard, by the working of whose muscles, assisted 
by small pebbles, which the birds swallow for that 
purpose, it is ground small, and so transmitted to 
the intestines. 

In oviparous reptiles, and all kind of serpents, 
there is neither chewing nor comminution in the 
stomach, but as they swallow animals whole, so 
they void the skins unbroken, having extracted the 
nutritious juices. Here, by the bye, we may 
observe the wonderful dilatability of the throats 
and gullets of serpents. Two entire adult mice 
have been taken out of the stomach of an adder, 
whose neck was no \3ig^«^x \)[v^w wv^'^ little finger. 

Fishes, which neVlhex c\\^^ xi^^ %^^^ "^^^^ 
meat, do, by means oi a ^o\nc^\. S^m^^ *m xX^^x. %\s.^ 



•* y. 



REFLECTIONS* "3^59' ' 

• • • 

mach,. reduce skin, bones, and all into <;hyle. And. . 
yet this juice shows no acidity to the taste. But 
how niild soever it tastes, it corrodes all animal - 
substances, as strong acid does iron. 

Several eminent men have been of opinion that ; 
all brutes are mere machines. This piay be agree- ] 
able €npugh to the pride. \df iiian ; but it is not 
agrefesible to daily observation^ - Do we not conti- ' 
nu^Hy observe in the brutes which are round abouK '[ 
tiV;2i. degree of intuitive or instinctive knowledge ^: X' 

• Malay" of their actions cannot be accounted for M'^ 
witnoui'it"^ as that' commonly noted of dogs, who 

Vi^aning before their masters, will stop at the part- 

• •itijgrof ^he road, till they see which way their mas- 

ters* idlk'kf And when they have gotten what they , 
feaf will he taken from them, they run away and .; 
•^S^ it;[ :/Nay, what account can be given, why a, •; 
dog, being. about to leap on a table which he sees he 
* ; t!a^p«t reach at once, if a stool or chair stands near 
•itt«Si*st mounts that, and then proceeds to the 
-.ta'ble.? If he were mere clock-work, and his 

• ^«nQtion caused by a material spring, that spring 
.* ^ijiijg once, set .to work, would carry the machine 

in- a right line^ towards the object that put it in 
. motion.- 

* *. Were it true • thit brutes were mere machines, 

• *• ' , • •■•. • ■ ■ 

• '. •ihey. could have rio.-t)$rception of pleasure or pain. 
•53ut how contrary i»^lhd» to the doleful significations 
they give when beaten' or tormented ? How con- 
trary ".to the common sense of mankind? For do 
*.wenot all naturally pity th^mj apprehending them 
. .io feel pain just as we do ? Whereas no man is 
troubled to see a plant torn,: or. cut, or mangled 
how you please. Andbo^ ceviVt^x^ \si vsrc5^^xsx5fe.\ 
:A righteous manregardetK iKe UJe oj >vvA\iea.%\.x 
.j-ibutthe tender wiercic« of tKe wVike^ w e ct«xv.'j 
^ y,. <■ : '■[ ■■ " . i 



360 WBSLSY'tf taXUMMHT. 

ProY. ill 10. Tbe Uman f^tBOB^ h ^imMj reth 
dtredf A good man is mere^U to his heati. And 
tbis is the trfie reiideriiig» sm appears hf tbe oppo- 
site clausef Thai ihe wicksd ts crueL CriMUy 
then may be exereised towards beasts ; bat this 
could not be» wcSre thej mere maehmes. 

The natural insttnet of all creatures^ and the 
special provisioit made for some of tbe most -help- 
less, demonstrBte, in a perticukr manner, the great 
Creator's card. 

First, What an admirable principle is the natorid ' 
affection of most ereatures toward ihdr yoong I , 
By means of tlus, with what care do they nurse 
them up, thmkitt^ no pains too great to be taketf * 
for them; and no danger too great to be ventured 
upon for their guard and secmity I How will.itt^ 

. caress them with their affectionilte notes, put fo^ 
into their mouths, suckle them, cherish and kpep 
them warm, teach them to pick and eat, and gather' 
food for themselves ; and, in a word, perform the, 
whole part of ^o many nurses, deputed by thit 
Sovereign Lord of the world, to help such young* . 
and resourceless creatures till they are able- to 
provide for themselves. 

Other animals, insects in particular, whose off- 
spring is too numerous for the parent's provision; 
are so generated as to need none of their care;* 
for they arrive immediately at their perfect state, 
and so are able to shift for themselves. Yet thus 
far the parental instinct (equal to the most rational 
fore-sight) extends, that they do not drop their 
eggs any where, but in commodious places, suit- 
able to their species. And. %ome include in their 
nests, sufficient and agree^\^^^^> "vsi ^t^j^ •^^xx. 

/ouog till they come to m^VAXtW.^. ^ 

And for thi youBg t\ietn&e\N^., K^ ^V^ ^-- 



REFLECTIONS. 361 

is not able to carry them about, to clothe and 
dandle them as man doth; how admirably is it 
contrived, that they can soon walk about, and begin 
to shift for themselves ! How naturally do they 
hunt for, and suck, pick, and take in their proper 
food! 

On the other hand, the young of man (as their 
parents' reason is sufficient to help, to nurse, to 
feed, and to clothe them) are bom utterly helpless, 
and are, more absolutely than any other creature, 
cast upon their parents* care. 

Secondly, What admirable provision is made for 
some of the most helpless creatures, at a time 
when they must otherwise utterly perish. The 
winter is an improper season for affording food to 
insects and many other animals. When the fields, 
trees, and plants, are naked, and the air is chilled 
with frost ; what would become of such animals, 
whose tender bodies are impatient of cold, and 
who are nourished only by the produce of the 
spring or summer ? To prevent their total destruc- 
tion, the wise Preserver of the world has so 
ordered, that, in the first place, those which are 
impatient of cold should have such a peculiar 
structure of body as, during that season, not to 
suffer any waste, nor consequently need any repair. 
Hence many sorts of reptiles and invertebrated 
animals pass the whole winter without any food ; 
and most of them without any respiration. It seems 
that all motion of the animal juices is suspended ; for 
though cut in pieces they do not awake, nor does 
any fluid ooze out at the wound. This sleep, there- 
fore, is little less than death ; and their waking, 
than a resurrection — ^vVicu ^<^ t^\\«««sj^ 'sckv 
re\ive^ them and their ioo^\.o^<fe\>aKt. 



362 Wesley's philosophy. 

The next provision is for such creatures as can 
bear the cold, but would want food. This is pro* 
vided against in some by a long patience of hunger, 
in others by their wonderful instinct in laying up 
food before hand, against the approaching winter. 
By some of these, their little treasuries are at the 
proper season well stocked with provisions. Yea, 
whole fields are here and there bespread with the 
fruits of the neighbouring trees, laid carefully up in 
the earth, and covered safely by provident Httle 
animals. 

And what a prodigious act is it of the Creator's 
indulgence to the poor, shiftless irrationals, that 
they are already furnished with such clothing as is 
proper to their place and business. With hair, 
with feathers, with shells, or with firm armature, 
all nicely accommodated, as well to the element 
wherein they live, as to their several occasions 
there. To beasts, hair is a commodious cloathing ; 
which, together with the apt texture of their skin, 
fits them in all weathers to lie on the ground, and 
to do their service to man. The thick and warm 
fleeces of others, are a good defence against the 
cold and wet, and also a soft bed ; yea, and to 
many a comfortable covering for their tender 
young. 

All the Polar mammalia are clothed with 
*a soft, warm fur. But what is still more sur- 
prising, and what draws all attentive minds to 
admire the wisdom and goodness of Providence, is, 
that the very dogs and cats which are carried 
thither from England change their appearance on 
the approach of winter, and acquire a much longer, 
softer, and thicker coat of hair than they origin- 
ally had. 



REFLECTIONS. 363 

And as hair is a commodious dress for beasts, 
so are feathers for birds. They are not only a good 
guard against wet and cold, but nicely placed every 
where on the body, to give the birds an easy pas- 
sage through the air, and to waft them through 
that tkin medium. How curious is their texture 
for lightness, and withal close and firm for strength! 
And where it is necessary they should be filled, 
what a light cellular substance are they filled with ! 
So that even the strongest parts, far from being a 
load to the body, rather help to make it light and 
buoyant. And how curiously are the vanes of the 
feathers wrought, with capilkry filaments, neatly 
interwoven together, whereby they are suflBciently 
close and strong, both to guard the body against 
the injuries of the weather, and to enable the 
wings, like so many sails, to make strong impulses 
on the air in their flight. 

No less curious is the clothing of crawling ani- 
mals. How well adapted are the rings of some, 
and the contortions of the skin of others, not only 
to fence the body sufficiently, but to enable them 
to creep, to perforate the earth, and to perform all 
the offices of their state, better than any other 
covering I 

Observe, for instance, the tegument of the earth- 
worms, made in the completest manner for making 
their passage through the earth, wherever their 
occasions lead them. Their body is made through- 
out of small rings, which have a curious apparatus 
of muscles, that enables them with great strength to 
dilate, extend, or contract their whole body. Each 
ring is likewise armed with stiff sharp prickles, 
which they can open at pleasure, or shut close to 
thdr body. Lastly, under their skin there is a slimy 



3Ct4 WESLEY'S PHILOSOPHY. ^m 

juice, which they emit as occasion requires, U> 
lubricate the body and facihtate their passa^ into 
the earth. By all these means they are enabled, 
with ease and speed, to work themselves ioto the 
earth, which they could not do, were they covered 
with hair, feathers, scales, or such clothing' as any 
of the other creatures. 

How wisely likewise are the inhabitants of tlie 
water? clothed I The shells of some moilusca are a 
•troiig guard to their tender bodies, and consistent 
enough with their slow motion ; while the scales 
and fins of fishes afford them an easy and swift 
passage through the waters. 

Admirable likewise is the sagacity of many ani- 
mals, in the conveniency and method of their habi. 
tations. Their architectural skill herein exceeds 
all the skill of man. With what iuimitabie art do 
some of these poor, untaught creatures, lay a parcel 
of rude ngly sticks of straws together 1 with what 
curiosity do they line them within, yea, wind and 
place every hair, feather, or lock of wool, to guard 
and keep warm the tender bodies, both of them- 
selves and their young I And with what art do 
they thatch over atid coat their nests without, to 
deceive the eye of the spectators, as well as to 
guard and fence them against the injuries of the 

Even insects, those little creatures, what artista 
are they in building their habitations I How does 
the hee gather its comb from various flowers, the 
wasp from solid timber I With what accuracy 
do other insects perforate the earth, wood, yea, 
stone itselfl Fatftiev ^et, -aV^h «\\at. care and 
neatness do nunt of tWTO\\ive'fiftiiisVavi.'jsi-«\^-iR, 
and seal them up aofl, S«w« X^T&-v«kw&.\ V«(« 



REFLECTIONS. 865 

artificially do others roll, fold, tie together, or cut 
and fashion the leaves of trees ; others glue Ught 
bodies together, and make floating houses, to trans- 
port themselves to and fro, as their various occa- 
sions require ! 

Another instance of the wisdom of Him that 
made and governs the world, we have in the balance 
of creatures. The whole surface of the t/erraqueous 
globe can afford room and support to no more 
than a determinate number of all sorts of creatures. 
And if they should increase to double or treble the 
number, they must starve or devour one another. 
To keep the balance even, the great Author of 
nature has determined the Ufe of all creatures to 
such a length, and their increase to such a number, 
proportioned to their use in the world. The life, 
indeed, of some hurtful creatures is long ; of the 
lion in particular. But then their increase is ex- 
ceedingly small ; and by that means they do not 
over stock the world. On the other hand, where 
the increase is great, the lives of those creatures 
are generally short. And, beside this, they are of 
great use to man, as to other animals, either for 
food, or on other occasions. This, indeed, should 
be particularly observed, as a signal instance of 
Divine providence, that useful creatures are pro- 
duced in great plenty ; others in smaller numbers. 
The prodigious increase of insects, both in and out 
of the waters, maj exemplify the formier observation. 
For innumerable creatures feed upon them, and 
would perish, were it not for this supply. And the 
latter is confirmed by what many have remarked ; 
that creatures of little use, or by their voracious- 
ness pernicious, either seldom btva%fet\3QL^^\.^oai2\^ 
but oDe or two at a \>\tl\x% 



S68 wkilst'« PflixX»oPHy. 

tbe fame time p rev en te ite tetnietuByliy limiwy 
immatalnUty ci the atlafe aad ■ somber of duMfi. 
elements. So that the world is lor erer dwogedf 
and yet eternally the same. 

Yet if we wduld aooount for the origin -of these, 
elements, we avs invohred in endless tmcertainify* 
We can onlyisayy He who has J4)poiBted«their<& 
ierent nses in all ages, has rendered ^those uses 
inftdlible, hy the fayossibaity of ei^ber desfcrcg^ 
or increasing, Aem. 

Herein we read Ihe cfaaraoters of -his fmrar, 
which is invariably obeyed; 'of his wiadom, which 
has abundantly provided for every things; and of 
his tender kindness toward, man, for whom he hai 
provided services equally various and infallible. 
It is an additional proof of hisieontinnal oare of 
his creatures, that though every thingbe composed 
of simple elements, all placed within our reach, 
yet no power is able to destroy the least particle 
of them. Nothing but the same cause which was 
able to give them birth, can annihilate them, or 
change their nature. In truth, the design and will 
of the Creator, is the only physical cause of the 
general economy of the. world : the only physical 
cause of every organised body, every germen that 
flourishes in it ; the only physical cause of every 
minute, elementary particle, which enters into the 
composition of all. 

We must not then expect ever to have a clear and 
full conception of effects, natures, and causes. For 
where is the thing which we can fully conceive? 
We can no more comprehend either what body in 
g'eneral is, or any particular body, suppose a mass 
of clay, or a baW oi \e«A,^^^ ^^^^ ^«^>*.^^t 
what God is. 



• REFLECTIONS. 369 

If we turn our eyes to the minutest parts of 
animal life, we shall be lost in astonishment ! And 
though every thing is alike easy to the Almighty, 
yet to us it is matter of the highest wonder, that, 
in those specks of life, we find a greater number 
of members to be put in motion, more wheels and 
pnllies to be kept going, and a greater variety of 
machinery, more elegance and workmanship (so 
to speak) in the composition, more beauty and 
ornament in the finishing, than are- z?en in the 
enormous bulk of the crocodile, the elephant, or 
the whale. Yea, they seem to be the effects of an 
art, as much more exquisite as the movements of a 
watch are than those of a coach or waggon. 

Hence we learn, that an atom to God is as a 
worlds and a world but as an atom: just as to, 
him, one day is as a thousand years ; and a thousand 
years but as one day. Every species likewise of 
these animalculae may serve to correct our pride, 
and show ho*-; inadequate our notions are to the 
real nature of things. How extremely little can 
we possibly know, either of the largest or smallest 
part of the creation ? We are furnished with organs 
capable of discerning, to a certain degree, of great 
or little only. All beyond is as far beyond the 
reach of our conceptions, as if it had never existed. 

Proofs of a wisej a good and powerful being, are 
indeed deducible from every thing around us : but 
the extremely great and the extremely small, seem 
to furnish us with those that are most convincing. 
And perhaps, if duly considered, the fabric of a 
world, and the fabric of a mite, may be found equally 
striking and conclusive. ^ ' 

Glasses discover to us numbetVe^^ Vvci^'^ qWvtvw^ 
creatures, quite indiscernible lo \\\^ Xia^£A^ ^^^' 

VOL. II. B B 



372 Wesley's prilobopht. 

with which they lude their abodes from the seardi* 
ing eye, or intruding hand^ is admirable. ^ 
general, though fruitM in expedients, could hnild . 
so commodious a lodgment. Give the most ede- 
brated artificer the same materials which itiBse 
weak and inexperienced creatures uiEte-^-let a J 
Jones or a Demoivre have only some nide stones ^ 
or ugly stickst a few bits of dirt or scraps of hairv 
a lock of wool, or a coarse sprig of moss: and 
what works could they produce ? 

<* We extol the commander, who knows how to 
take advantage of the ground; who by every cir- 
cumstance embarrasses the forces of his enemy, 
and advances the success of his own. Does not 
this praise belong to the feathered leaders ? -Who 
fix their pensile camp on the dai^rous branches 
that wave aloft in the air, or dance over the 
stream? By this .means the vernal gales rock 
their cradle, and the murmuring waters lull the 
young, while both concur to terrify their enemies, 
and keep them at a distance. Some hide their 
little household from view, amidst the shelter of 
entangled fiirze. Others remove it from discovery, 
in the centre of a thorny thicket. And by one 
stratagem or another they are generally as secure 
as if they intrenched themselves in the earth. 

<' If the swan has large sweeping wings, and a 
copious stock of feathers, to spread over her callow 
young, the wren makes up by contrivance what 
is wanting in her bulk. Small as she is, she will 
be obliged to nurse up a very numerous issue. 
Therefore, with surprising judgement she designs, 
and with wonder^vxV d\\\^^iLce finishes her nest. It 
is a neat oval, "ViotUsm^^ «xA N«»ii\ft^ ^^^-^ -<«^^*K g. 
regular concave; vaOaiu laaAa ^^"^ ^^ ^^^^x 



REFLECTIONS. 373 

without thatched with moss, only a small aperture 
left for her entrance. By this means the enlivening 
heat of her body is greatly increased during the 
time of incubation. And her young no sooner 
burst the shell, than they find themselves screened 
from the annoyance of the weather, and comfort- 
ably reposed, till they gather strength in the 
warmth of a bagnio. 

** Perhaps we have been accustomed to look 
upon insects as so many rude scraps of creation. 
But if we examine them with attention, they will 
appear some of the most polished pieces of Divine 
workmanship. Many of them are decked with the 
richest finery. Their eyes are an assemblage of 
microscopes: the common fly, for instance, who, 
surrounded with enemies, has neither strength to 
resist, nor a place of retreat to secure herself. For 
this reason she has need to be very vigilant, and 
always upon her guard. But her head is so fixed 
that it cannot turn to see what passes, either be- 
hind or around her. Providence therefore has 
given her, not barely a retinue, but more than a 
legion of eyes ; insomuch, that a single fly is sup- 
posed to be mistress of no less than eight thousand. 
By the help of this truly amassing apparatus, she 
sees on every side, with the utmost ease and speed, 
though without any motion of the eye, or flexion of 
the neck. 

" The dress of insects is a vesture of resplendent 
colours, set with an arrangement of the brightest 
gems. Their wings are the finest expansion ima- 
ginable, compared to which lawn is as coarse as 
sackcloth. The cases, which enclose their wings, 
glitter with the finest vanualaL> «x^ s«^i^^^^ *\s!^^Rk 



376 WESLETS PHILOSOPHY. 

"Let UB step inl'' another element, and just 
visit the watery world. There is not one among 
the iiiDutnerabU rayriadB, that swim th<! boundless 
ocean, but is watched over by the sovereign eye, 
nnd supported by his almighty hand. 

" But as they hare neither hands nor feet, how 
can they help themselves, or escape their enemies? 
By the beneficial, as well as the omameatal fnrni- 
ture of fins. These when expanded, like masta 
above, and ballasts below, poise theirfloating bodies, 
and keep them steadily upright. They are like- 
wise greatly assisted by the flesibiUty and vigorous 
activity of their tails : with which they shoot 
through the paths of the sea, swifter than a vessel 
with all its sails. But we are lost in wonder at the 
CKquiaite contrivance and deUcate formution of their 
gilb, by which they are accommodated, even in 
that dense medium, with the benefits of respira- 
tion ! A piece of mechanism this, indulged to the 
meanest of the fry: yet infinitely surpassing, in 
the fineness of its structure and operation, what- 
ever is curious in the works of art, or commodious 
in the palaces of Princes." 






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