Chapter XXXIV: Book THE SECOND: Mission and Arts of the Insect

CHAPTER I.--SWAMMERDAM.

The secret of the Insect World first discovered by Swammerdam, 129
A comparison instituted between him and Galileo, 130
His early years, his favourite occupations, and his collections of
insects, 131, 132
To assist him in his investigations he invented the microscope, 133
His patient labours rewarded by great discoveries, 134
Yet in his own country he was not honoured; it was in France that his
work met with due appreciation, 135
Ardent devotion to science brings on premature decay, 136
Dark clouds overcast his later years, 137
He died at the age of three and forty, 138
His work is carried on by Leuwenhoek and Malpighi, 139

CHAPTER II.--THE MICROSCOPE: HAS THE INSECT A PHYSIOGNOMY?

In the infinitely little lurks a great attraction for man, 143
Hence its study should be systematically undertaken, 144
Michelet applies himself to his microscope, 145
And examines the structure of an insect's wing, 146
Next, he studies the organization of the ant, 147
He describes what he saw, 148
A complex apparatus, both for action and defence, 150
What it is which separates us from the insect, 151

CHAPTER III.--THE INSECT AS THE AGENT OF NATURE IN THE ACCELERATION OF DEATH AND LIFE.

The language of the insect in its immense energy, 155
A glance is directed at the order of Nature, 156
And it is shown that all forms of life must be kept within certain
limits, 156
Hence, one race preys upon another, and all Nature is a scene of
incessant combat, 157
In this work of destruction, and purification, the Bird and the Insect
play an important part, 158
The Coleoptera bring their surprising energies to the task, 159
The insect-tribes are therefore great sanitary agents, 160
The great Guiana ants afford an illustration, 161
And the beneficent labours of the spider have secured the respect of the
Siberians, 162

CHAPTER IV.--THE INSECT AS MAN'S AUXILIARY.

The want of insect-labour induced the potato disease, 165
Such is the dictum of an author, who thinks that the multiplication of
small birds has been destructive to insect-life; but no such
multiplication of birds has taken place, nor any such destruction of
insects, 165, 166
The Bird and the Insect are the joint purifiers of creation, 167
Some species of insects should be carefully preserved, 167
A sketch is given of their multifarious labours, 168
Of the services rendered by the scavenger-insects, 169

Of the value of certain insects as food, 170
As, for instance, in the case of the locust, 171
The law of retaliation illustrated, 172

CHAPTER V.--A PHANTASMAGORIA OF LIGHT AND COLOUR.

How does the insect express its intensity of vital force? 175
In various ways, but specially through its glowing hues, 176
Which are displayed with a profusion that astonishes and almost overcomes
the observer, 177
But are not inconsistent with an ingenious mimicry, 177
A diversion is made to the tropical forest, 178
Where the insect life is seen in its most splendid developments, 179
Like winged flames they haunt the leafy shades, 180
The fire-fly lights up the gloom, and also furnishes woman's beauty with
a living ornament, 181, 182

CHAPTER VI.--THE SILKWORM.

The exquisite structure of a woman's hair enlarged upon, 185
What can compare with it? Only the silkworm's thread, 186
Peculiar charm attending the silkworm's labours, 186
And the preciousness of the silken product, 187
Something is said about the use of silk in Mediæval France, 188
And on its excellence and fitness as a garment for Beauty, 189

CHAPTER VII.--INSTRUMENTS OF THE INSECT: AND ITS CHEMICAL ENERGIES, AS IN THE COCHINEAL AND THE CANTHARIDES.

Hitherto the writer has treated only of the silk of the bombyx, 193
He now commends the culture of other silk-spinning species, 194
And is led to speak of the ingenious instruments with which insects are
provided, 194
And of their general powers and properties, 195
Something is said about their weapons, 196
And the malalis is spoken of, 197

CHAPTER VIII.--ON THE RENOVATION OF OUR ARTS BY THE STUDY OF THE INSECT.

The Fine Arts would profit by a close study of the insect, 201
Much might be learned, for instance, from the cockchafer's wing, 202
Nature is full of suggestive beauty, 203
Observe the enamels of the cicindela, 204
And those of the scarabæi, 205
Instead of copying from antique absurdities, go then to the
insect-collector's cabinet, 206
And its treasures will inspire the artist with new ideas, 207

CHAPTER IX.--THE SPIDER--INDUSTRY--STANDING STILL.

We come to the consideration of the spider, 211
Whose life is a lottery, and which is branded with ugliness, 212
It is, however, the type of the persevering worker, 213
An anecdote in illustration of its character, 214
Its web, and the mode of its construction, described, 215
Prudence and patience the characteristics of the spider, 216
All animals live by prey, and the spider has its foes, 217
Its existence is confined within a narrow circle, 218
And is easily terminated, 219