On the same subject : BY MRS. ROBINSON. POOR insect! what a little day And yet thou spread'st thy light wings gay, Thou humm'st thy short and busy tune, And careless, while 'tis burning noon, A show'r would lay thy beauty low, The torrent of thy overthrow, Then spread thy little shining wing, For Man, like thee, has but his spring; On Cruelty to Insects: BY WILLIAM COWPER, ESQ. I WOULD not enter on my list of friends (Tho' graced with polished manners and fine sense, Yet wanting sensibility) the man, Who needlessly sets foot upon a worm. Sacred to neatness and repose, the alcove, Not so when, held within their proper bounds, wrong, 10 PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. Or safety interfere, his rights and claims As God was free to form them at the first, 11 ANECDOTES OF REMARKABLE INSECTS. ANTS.-TERMES. [The WOOD ANT, as seen through a Microscope.] Brief description of their Commonwealth, &c. ANTS live in large societies, somewhat in the manner of bees or wasps, and are, like them, divided into males, females, and neutrals. This latter class appears to conduct the business of the nest, which is usually at a small distance from the surface, in some slight elevation, either prepared by the insects themselves, or previously formed by some other animals, as moles, &c. They feed on both animal and vegetable substances, devouring the smallest kinds of insects, caterpillars, &c. as well as fruits of different kinds. The fondness of Ants for animal food is often turned to good account by anatomists. When they wish to obtain the skeleton of any animal, too small or delicate to admit of being prepared in the usual way, the animal is disposed in a proper position, in a small box, with perforations in the lid, and deposited in a large Ant-hill; in consequence the softer parts are eaten away, and the skeleton remains. Thus, very elegant skeletons of frogs, snakes, &c. may be obtained. The Common or Black Ant (formica nigra) is a well known inhabitant of our fields and gardens, residing in great numbers between molehills and other elevated spots. It is of a brownish black colour, and of a glossy or polished surface. The eggs of this species are deposited early in the spring, and are extremely small, and of a white colour. From these are hatched the larva, which |