Page 307 - Third Book of Reading Lessons

306 THIRD BOOK 0
HouND, n a ctog used in the chase. A.S. ltund, om entian, to pur- sue, to search after.·
ANAT1 0 Y, n., the doctrine of the structure of animal bodies (in this place) : also, the art of dissecting the bodies of animals. L. and G. anato e, om (G.) ana, through, and temnein, to cut.
BRUTE, n., a savage animal; a beast, that is, an animal disti uished from birds, insects, and shes: om brutus, L., of doubt l origin.
For ''Organs," seep. 227; "Lungs," p. 295; "Sagacity," p. 198; "Unctuous," p. 142; "Natura}i t," p. 22; and r derivation of "Inimitable," see "Imitate," p. 69; of"Perceptible," see "Percep­
tion," p. 67; of"Compulsion," see "Impulse," p. 223.
1. INSECTS are, in natural history·, a smaller sort of animals, commonly supposed to be exsanguious, and distinguished by certain incisures, cuttings, or indent­ ings, in their bodies. The word is originally Latin, rmed of in, and seco, "I cut;" the reason of which is, that in some of this tribe, as ants, the body seems to be cut or divided into two ; or because the bodies of many, as worms, caterpillars, &c., are composed of divers circles, or rings, which are a sort of incisu,r .
2. By some natural historians, this class of animals is considered as the most imper ct of any, while others prefer them to the larger anima1s. One mark of their imper ction is said to be, that many of them can live a long time, though deprived of those organs which are necessary to li in the higher ranks of na­ ture. :Many of them are rnished with 1ungs and a heart, like the nobler animals; yet the caterpillar continues to live, though its heart and lungs are en­ tirely eaten way, which is often the case. It is not, however, om their con rmation alone that insects are in rior to other animals, but om their instincts also. It is true, that the ant and the bee present us with striking instances of assiduity; yet, even these are in rjor to the marks of sagacity displayed by the larger animals. A bee taken from the swarm is to­ tally helpless and inactive, incapable of giving the
smallest variation to its instincts. It has but one