20 



a manner almost inexplicable. The curious nest of 

 the Bengal grosbeak, the actually sewed cradle of 

 the tailor bird, of India, (Sylvia sutoria,) the beauti- 

 ful intertwined and grassy nest of the tiny marsh wren 

 of our neighboring swamps (Troglodytes brevirostris. 

 NUTT.) the woven and strong pouch-like nest of the 

 vivid and splendid golden robin, (Icterus baltimore. 

 BONAP.J and the yet more singular texture of the 

 orchard orioles (Icterus spurius. BONAP.^) are striking 

 instances. The workmanship of the loom is naught 

 in comparison with the ingenuity of the cunning and 

 active spider and while for centuries the treasures 

 of intellect and mind were committed to various sub- 

 stances of inferior value, for general diffusion, the 

 ingenious wasp, was hourly fabricating its elegant 

 nest, with the now universally used and almost indis- 

 pensable article of paper, which has superseded all 

 else.* With a precision unparalled and undeviating 

 the bee (Apis Mellifica. L.) whose history is only 

 coeval with man, solved at each repeated construction 

 of its cell, the problem, which required the skill of 

 a mathematician, aided by the infinitesimal calculus 

 to prove. The tissue and internal structure of vege- 

 table sf outrival the curious and costly productions of 

 art, and the gorgeous and magnificent vesture of the 

 " lilies of the field," furnished in Holy Writ, a strik- 

 ing and persuasive argument in the support of divine 

 truth.} 



* Polistes Nidulans of Cayenne, constructs a nest of genuine paste board, 

 and several American species of Vespa and Crabro, use paper of their own 

 fabrication, in the construction of their cells and nests. 



t The lace tree of the West Indies, (Lagctta lintearia) furnishes from its 

 inner bark a beautiful substitute for lace. 



$ Matthew vi. 28 29. 



