priately chosen as the foundation of a lecture on this interesting occasion, and Mr. Cox, in his mode of elucidating it, was particularly felicitous. He detailed the characters which distinguish organic and inorganic matter, and then traced nature, rising by gradual and gentle transition from link to link, until her arrival at that grand, wonderful, and comprehensive system-man. After a minute investigation of the properties of anatomy and physiology, which the learned lecturer made most clear and convincing, he came to that part of his discourse which related to "that sentient and intellectual power-the mind," from which we have made the following brief extract :

"That this noble endowment proceeds from merely material organization has been contended by some of the most celebrated philosophers and poets, and publicly advocated by some distinguished members of our profession. But the opinions which have been advanced by the modern materialists have no claim to originality. The novelties which have been introduced are chiefly novelties in expression, not in ideas. The leading arguments are the same as were advanced during past ages. If we refer to the works of Democritus and the poet Lucretius, we shall find that the anima and animus were considered parts of the body, and when disorganized they returned to mingle with their primary elements

Primum animum dico, mentem quam sæpe vocamus
In quo concilium vitæ regimenque locatum est,
Esse hominis partem, nihilo minus ac manus et pes,
Atque oculi partes animantis totius extant.

(Lucretius de rerum naturâ.)

To enter on this subject on the present occasion would be a digression. I will only observe that I am perfectly convinced that the mind is incorporeal and immaterial; which belief is strengthened and confirmed by the wisest and best of men of past ages. How beautiful is this expressed by the divine poet Virgil

Principio cœlum, ac terras camposque liquentes
Lucentemque globum lunæ, Titaniaque astra
Spiritus intus alit, totamque infusa per artus,
Mens agitat molem, et magno se corpore miscet.

This belief is confirmed by that of the most illustrious men of other countries-by the greatest men of our own. Surely we may rely with implicit confidence, if other evidence were wanting, on the opinions of Bacon, of Milton, of Newton, and of Locke-all of whom were perfectly convinced, after the most mature examination, that, exclusive of this material frame, there is superadded to it an incorruptible and immortal soul. How this combination of matter and spirit takes place can be only known to the omnipotent Creator of all things; but, to prosecute this inquiry further would be, in the words of one of our most beautiful poets

To lose ourselves in Him, light ineffable:
Come then, expressive silence, muse his praise!

(Thomson's Hymn.).

The seat of this intellectual power is supposed to be the brain. The brain and spinal marrow communicate with every part of the body by means of the nerves. It is by these that the muscles are made to act under the direction of the will. By directing my will to the muscles of the fore-arm, I readily bend it on the upper arm, because there is direct communication with the brain by means of the nerves. If these be divided, I might will my arm to move, but it would remain motionless. The brain being the seat of impression, naturally leads us to the organs of sense, which are dependant on the nerves. To judge of the qualities of bodies, their temperature, and size, we are gifted with the faculty of touch. From the hand being so minutely supplied with nerves, no part is better fitted to the purpose.

"We have as yet provided only for the lowest degree of sensitive existence. It has been beautifully observed by a distinguished writer"We must open channels of communication with different objects, we must apprise this being of his danger, we must inform him of the situation of those objects which are subservient to his wants, we must shew him the surrounding world, we must lift up the curtain of darkness which conceals it, and admit him to the glorious spectacle of nature's scenery, and apprise him of the eventful changes that are hourly transacting around him, and in which he is called upon to play his assigned part. To the sense of touch, then, we add those of sight and hearing." By the beautiful construction of the eye, a faithful delineation of the external scene is painted on the expansion of the optic nerve, and by it conveyed to the brain. By the curious mechanism of the ear, sound is collected, which, striking on the expansion of the auditory nerve, recognizance is taken of it by the brain. In addition to these faculties, and also depending on the nerves, we are gifted with the organs of smell and taste; the former residing in the nose, the latter in the tongue.

"To perpetuate and preserve a being thus formed, Providence in his wisdom has made male and female. By a process veiled in mystery new beings spring forth, grow by the same power, exhibit the same succession of phenomena, and after having in their turn given rise to another race of beings, yield, sooner or later, to the imperious laws of mortality. All living bodies must die-death is the necessary effect of life, which, by its very action, seems gradually to alter the structure of the human body, so far as to render its continuation impossible; for the living body undergoes a gradual but constant change during the whole period of its existence."

Further proof cannot be required of the lofty position which medicine and surgery hold in the extensive and populous town of Birmingham; and while talent of such order exists in the heart of the kingdom, so favourable to the inculcation of medical knowledge, we may venture to predict that the metropolis, in the course of time, will have a competitor capable of dividing the advantages and attainments, which are now, with few exceptions, so exclusively confined to the range of its jurisdiction.

REMARKS ON INSECTS, PICTORIAL AND POETICAL. BY EDWIN LEES, M. E. S.,

HONORARY CURATOR OF THE WORCESTERSHIRE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.*

SCIENTIFIC Opinions and systematic arrangements are for learned bodies and purely scientific men; we have our choice, then-to mount up into the clouds, beyond mortal ken, alone in our sublimity or to be contented with the less dangerous though lower station of the green earth. In other words, our language must be adapted solely for the initiated in the mysteries of science, or we must take the trouble, if we wish the audience of the world, to speak a language the world can understand. Hence the propriety of employing those popular illustrations that might otherwise be considered as fanciful or puerile. Mr. Newman, as if in despair of producing a favourable impression in behalf of entomology, rather forbiddingly states that " the collector of insects must make up his mind to sink in the opinion of his friends, and be the object of the undisguised pity and ridicule of the mass of mankind."+ I must confess, if this were really the case, I should feel inclined, like the blue-bottle fly, in November, to seek some comfortable cranny, safe ensconced behind my books and cases, where “ good-natured friends" were not very likely to lay their hands upon me. short, I should not by my buzzing give any tokens of my existence, but remain as quiet and snug as possible. As for a good-humoured laugh, we must expect it in this world, let our pursuits be what they may; but I can scarcely think that the entomologist has a greater load of obloquy to bear upon his shoulders than the devotees of other sciences-unless, indeed, he does as Peter Pindar makes Sir Joseph Banks do-break into a garden, and upset the gardener, glasses, flowers, hives, &c., in pursuit of an emperor butterfly. Some old stories, in the "Spectator," of legacies of grasshopper's legs and butterfly's wings, perhaps seem to make against us, and some "Saw-flies" of the present day‡ occasionally attempt an impotent stroke. But these are "trifles light as air,' no more needing serious attention than the game at tick which the merry flies amuse themselves with, and which they get up so early in the summer time to practise around the curtains of our bed, or circling about the ceiling. Some flies seem not to relish the liberty

In

*Having recently delivered a Lecture on the "Connection of Botany with Entomology," before the Worcestershire Natural History Society, in which I traced the Physiology and Economy of the Insect Tribes, I was requested to furnish the Editor of "The Analyst" with my notes, for an entire Report. But in such a form the paper would be too long; and perhaps, therefore, extracts from the more illustrative part will be considered most interesting.

+"Grammar of Entomology." By Edward Newman.

See a curious paper that appeared a few months since in the " Dublin University Magazine," on the pretended introduction of a new large variety of the Flea.

thus taken with their persons, and buzz an angry rebuff, but they soon see a joke is only to be smiled at, and push about in their turns, till all enjoy the spirit-stirring exercise. For my own part I know I have been more laughed at for attempting to carry off part of the entrails of a mountain, than ever I expect to be from the pursuit of entomology; and indeed, I must confess that I have often wondered that some tenacious lord of a manor has not prosecuted the geologist for purloining the stone from his quarries, sometimes to no inconsiderable extent; while the most litigious will scarcely object to the capture of an insect.

In sober seriousness, however, if any one objects to entomology as a frivolous pursuit, I at once unhesitatingly claim for it the lowest and the highest position any science can aspire to, and if its aspect satisfies us in both positions, there can be no fear that the whole picture can be satisfactorily filled up. I then claim for entomology the rank of an innocent and rational amusement. it were only this, if it merely afforded us pleasure amid scenes of romantic beauty-rock, water, and wood-if it merely led us from the tainted air of the pent-up city, to the breezy fragrance of the heathy wild-if it merely whispered pleasure-that pleasure which they only know who have found

"Divine oblivion of low-thoughted care"

If

in the contemplation of the wonders of creation-it would, only thus constituted, be not without its use. It is, indeed, true, that the objects contemplated by entomology, are, in general, minute; but insects make up in numbers for their want of bulk; and when the celebrated Dr. Edward Clarke, in his travels in the East, complains that the king of the fleas kept his court at Tiberias, I dare say he felt no wish for the increase of bulk of his skipping majesty. In fact, we may resolve all questions of bulk into the shrewd and sensible answer of the Spartan soldier, who when about to proceed to battle, was reminded that he had no emblem on his brazen buckler. But he pointed to a fly on the central boss, and informed his friends that however they might ridicule the emblem he had chosen, he should approach the enemy so near, that they would be as sensible of his presence as if he bore a more formidable ensign that might be known from a distance. So if any demur to the minuteness of the objects contemplated by entomologists, we may tell them to bring their eye to the microscope, and only approach as near to the object of their research as the Spartan brought his shield to the enemy, and if magnitude be their aim they need not be disappointed.

I shall not enter into any lengthened argument on the subject of cruelty to insects, a point often needlessly insisted upon, since their internal structure proves their obesity of feeling; but I may note a few examples of insect endurance and vitality. A drop of Prussic acid, that would destroy a rabbit, has been put upon a fly, who only suffered temporary inconvenience, and afterwards flew

away. A tipula, or crane-fly, loses leg after leg, by mere accident, without its evolutions being at all affected thereby; and cockchafers may be often seen moving about with only their head and elytra, having had their abdomen devoured by some bird. The flies that Dr. Franklin found in a bottle of wine that had crossed the Atlantic, and which, though apparently dead, revived in the sun, are well known. But a much more extraordinary circumstance is stated in Rennie's "Field Naturalist," of a quantity of bees imported in some hives from Holland, which are stated to have revived and flown about, after having been well boiled in a furnace! Not having witnessed the operation myself, I would not pledge myself as to the degree of temperature attained by the water in the furnace; such a power of enduring heat seems more than can be possible, even to insects, unless future observation should confirm it ;-and we all know it is certain death to the poor fly who, anxious for a drop of savoury cream, slips down the glazed porcelain into the scalding tea. Such accounts recal the caustic language of Cowper :

"Can this be true?' an arch observer cries;
'True, Sir, it is,-1 saw it with these eyes!'
Sir, I believe it-on that ground alone;
I could not, had I seen it with my own!'"

Yet it is possible to be too sceptical. Mr. Spence, one of the most eminent entomologists of the day, relates that a beetle he once immersed in hot water, so that it seemed dead, afterwards came to life again; and Kirby and Spence affirm that bees will revive after being submersed in water for nine hours;* so that they have a better chance than Gray's cat, which

"Three times emerging from the watʼry flood,"

mewed in vain for a deliverer.t I shall here mention an instance of insect vitality that fell under my own observation a few years ago. Having purchased a second-hand microscope, with various objects fitted up for observation, I noticed that among them was a group of aphides, (plant-lice,) with eggs, glued down to the glass upon which they were placed. These I had several times looked at without observing anything extraordinary. But one evening, some visitors wishing to view the microscope, I brought it for some time within the powerful influence of a gas-light, when, to our astonishment, while gazing at the aphides, they actually assumed motion, and crawled away from the glass beyond the range of vision. At that time the microscope had been for some months in my possession; and on inquiring of the optician from whom I had purchased it, he was of opinion that the aphides had

"Introduction to Entomology." By Kirby & Spence, 4 vols. 8vo.

+ A curious instance is mentioned by the Rev. Revett Shepherd, of a spider, which gets a comfortable subsistence by rowing about in a raft among drowning insects, and rescuing from a watery grave such as he could lay his fangs upon.