Chap. 5.] BEES. 5 



in every part of the body ; least of all, however, in the head, 

 which alone is subject to no movements unless torn off together 

 with the corselet. No kind of animal has more feet than the 

 insects have, and those among them which have the most, live 

 the longest when cut asunder, as we see in the case of the scolo- 

 pendra. They have eyes, and the senses as well of touch and 

 taste ; some of them have also the sense of smelling, and some 

 few that of hearing. 



chap. 4. (5.) — BEES. 



But among them all, the first rank, and our especial admi- 

 ration, ought, in justice, to be accorded to bees, which alone, 

 of all the insects, have been created for the benefit of man. 

 They extract honey and collect it, a juicy substance remarkable 

 for its extreme sweetness, lightness, and wholesomeness. They 

 form their combs and collect wax, an article that is useful for 

 a thousand purposes of life ; they are patient of fatigue, toil at 

 their labours, form themselves into political communities, hold 

 councils together in private, elect chiefs in common, and, a thing 

 that is the most remarkable of all, have their own code of morals. 

 In addition to this, being as they are, neither tame nor wild, 

 so all-powerful is Nature, that, from a creature so minute as to 

 be nothing more hardly than the shadow of an animal, she has 

 created a marvel beyond all comparison. What muscular 

 power, what exertion of strength are we to put in comparison 

 with such vast energy and such industry as theirs ? What dis- 

 play of human genius, in a word, shall we compare with the 

 reasoning powers manifested by them ? In this they have, at 

 all events, the advantage of us — they know of nothing but what 

 is for the common benefit of all. Away, then, with all questions 

 whether they respire or no, and let us be ready to agree on 

 the question of their blood ; and yet, how little of it can pos- 

 sibly exist in bodies so minute as theirs. — And now let us 

 form some idea of the instinct they display. 



CHAP. 5. (6.) THE ORDER DISPLAYED IX THE WORKS OF BEES. 



Bees keep within the hive during the winter— for whence 

 are they to derive the strength requisite to withstand frosts 

 and snows, and the northern blasts ? The same, in fact, is 

 done by all insects, but not to so late a period; as those 



