NATURE'S CRAFTSMEN 



select smaller prey, garner many spiders, rarely sealing 

 a cell ere it is quite full. 



The above facts fairly present the general habit of 

 these insects and their motive in their hunting excur- 

 sions. Whether they have developed a love for the 

 chase simply as sport may be queried. Certainly they 

 seem to enjoy it in every quivering fibre of their animated 

 frames; and one who watches their various modes will 

 be amused to trace resemblances, real or fancied, be- 

 tween them and the "mighty hunters," the Nimrods and 

 Esaus, of the human species. But there is a field in 

 which we may reach definite results that deserve notice. 

 What reflex influence has this behavior of the huntress 

 wasp wrought upon the subjects of. her pursuit? Has 

 it modified their habits, and in what direction and to 

 what extent? 



Here again we may reason from analogy; within the 

 realm of facts, to be sure, but not disdaining a " scientific 

 use of the imagination," without which the naturalist's 

 studies would be often dull and aimless, even fruitless. 

 The progress of modern warfare, or, more accurately, 

 of implements of war, has been largely a contest be- 

 tween the efficiency of defensive armor against offensive 

 weapons. As human ingenuity has devised destructive 

 weapons of attack, opposing ingenuity and skill have 

 prepared surer means of defence. Indeed, in the wider 

 field of man's current life the same process may be noted. 

 What, for example, is the growth of architecture, in the 

 widest sense of the word, but a history of man's efforts 

 to meet his needs through the assaults of nature, by 

 counter-movements that have developed works of skill 

 better suited to protect and defend life and health? It 

 is natural that, within its limited compass, something 



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