On the History and Natural Arrangement of Insects (Classic Reprint)

Download or read book On the History and Natural Arrangement of Insects (Classic Reprint) written by William Swainson and published by . This book was released on 2016-06-15 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from On the History and Natural Arrangement of Insects The shellfish above insects, we may strengthen what we have here said by the sentiments of others whose writings have exhibited entomology in its most attractive garb. What unsophisticated mind, not entangled in the trammels of_ system, when it surveys the industry, the various proceedings, and the almost miraculous works of insects, - the waxen palaces of the bee, the paper cottages of the wasp and hornet, the crowded me tropolis of the white ants, the arts, the manufactures, the stratagems of other insects, the associations and labours for the common good of those which are gregarious, will not at once conclude that they must be a superior race to the slug, the snail, and others, which live only to eat and propagate their kind l* Again, it has been well observed that the station which any particular group of animals holds in the scale of creation must be judged of, not by a fancied and often forced resemblance to the human structure as the only standard, but according to the ingenuity displayed in their organisation, and the variety of effects which may depend on it.'i' The most 3 careless observer, indeed, is well aware that many of the vertebrate animals are far inferior to insects, both in their instincts and the complexity of their structure. The vertebrate and the annulose divisions being thus the two most perfect classes in the animal kingdom, it necessarily results that they follow and blend into each other. We accordingly find, that the two circles touch at those points where the eel-shaped fishes come into contact with the Annelides, ' or red blooded worms the affinity of these groups being now so universally admitted, that we need not defend the theory of their union. On the other hand, the Annulosa are connected to the Radiata by means of the harm cles, whose long, stems, rendered pliable by innumerable articulations, at once place them within the definition. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.