Sect. XVI. 17. 1. OF INSTINCT. M , 



like an afTemblage of the huts of the negroes, ( Adanfon). The 

 hi/lory of thefe has been lately well defcnbed in the Philofoph. 

 Tranfaclions, under the name of termes, or termites. Thefe 

 differ very much from the neft of our large ant ; but the real 

 hiftory of this creature, as well as of the wafp, is yet very im- 

 perfectly known. 



Wafps are faid to catch large fpiders, and to cut off their legs, 

 and carry their mutilated bodies to their young, Di£t. Raifon. 

 Tom. I. p. 152. 



One circumftance I fhall relate which fell under my own eye s 

 and fhewed the power of reafon in a wafp, as it is exercifed 

 among men. A wafp, on a gravel walk, had caught a fly nearly 

 as large as himfeif ; kneeling on the ground I obferved him fep- 

 arate the tail and the head from the body part, "to which the 

 wings were attached. He then took the body part in his 

 paws, and rofe about two feet from the ground with it ; but a 

 gentle breeze wafting the wings of the fly turned him round in 

 the air, and he fettled again with his prey upon the gravel. I 

 then ciiftinctly obferved him cut off with his mouth, firil one of 

 the wings, and then the other, after which he flew away with 

 it unmolefted by the wind. 



Go, thou iluggard, learn arts and induftry from the bee, and 

 from the ant ! 



Go, proud reafoner, and call the worm thy filter ! 



XVII. Conclafion. 



It was before obferved how much the fuperior accuracy of 

 our fenfe of touch contributes to increafe our knowledge ; but 

 it is the greater energy and activity of the power of volition (as 

 explained in the former Sections of this work) that marks man, 

 and has given him the empire of the world. 



There is a criterion by which we may diftinguifh our volun- 

 tary acts or thoughts from thofe that are excited by our fenfa- 

 tions ; " The former are always employed -about the means to 

 acquire pleafurable objects, or to avoid painful ones : while the 

 latter are employed about the pojfejfion of thofe that are, already 

 in our power." 



If we turn our eyes upon the fabric of our fellow animals, 

 we find they are fupported with bones, covered with fkins, moved 

 by mnfcles ; that they poflefs the fame fenfes, acknowledge the 

 fame appecites, and are nourifhed by the fame aliment with our- 

 felves ; and we mould hence conclude from the ftrongefi. anal- 

 ogy, that their internal faculties were alfo in forne meafure fim- 

 ilar to our own, 



Mr. 



