SOME THINGS WE MIGHT LEARN FROM THE LOWER 



ANIMALS. 



Man has been instructed in many ing victim for her rapacious progeny next 



things by lower animals, but there is yet spring, while he is too young to hunt for 



much to be learned. It is said that the himself, and while the caterpillars are still 



first suspension bridge across the Ni- securely hiding in their mummy cases, 



agara was constructed after the plainest Mrs. Wasp finds the venturesome young 



sort of hint from a spider. Yet we have caterpillar crawling somewhere, and 



never found the name of Mr. Spider cut pouncing upon him, carefully inserts her 



upon the buttresses of a bridge. Who sting into the nerve ganglia that are lo- 



knows but that the builders of the pyra- cated in a line along his dorsal surface, 



mids of ancient Egypt copied their engi- We don't know how she learned the ex- 



neering plans from the ants who for gen- act location of the ganglia and that a few 



erations had pursued similar methods in well-directed stabs will produce more ef- 



the architecture of their cities ? Spiders feet than hundreds of misdirected thrusts 



had been ballooning for many centuries in other parts of the body, but it is cer- 



before man swung his first parachute to tainly true that she selects the very seg- 



the breeze. In fact, there is a species of ments in which the ganglia are located to 



spider, which, although they have no inflict the wound. And she had the loca- 



wings, are able to spin for themselves a tion of these nerve centers for a long time 



sort of apparatus by means of which they before biologists made the discovery, 



navigate the air; yet man, with all his What a fine thing it would be for the 



boasted intelligence, has not accom- biologist if he could learn the secret of 



plished this, even with the most compli- thus preserving living animals instead of 



cated machinery. So I might go on to the stiff, discolored and uninteresting al- 



suggest many mechanical and economic coholic specimens. Then think of the 



contrivances used by lower animals, some economic value of such a discovery. Ani- 



of which man has copied but many of mals could be fattened in summer at 



which he has as yet been unable to equal, much smaller expense and then injected 



Before the first potter of old had fash- and set away until needed. We would 



ioned a vase or a jug the Eumenes fra- have no more difficulty in providing our 



terna had constructed his dainty little armies with beef on the hoof, and fresh 



jugs of mud. But the making of jugs is meat could be shipped at much -less ex- 



not the only art man might learn from pense over long distances, as no ice 



this little wasp. Upon examination we would be necessary. We would have no 



find the jug filled with small green cater- more complaint of embalmed beef and 



pillars. After depositing her egg Mrs. putrid canned goods. 



Wasp thus provides for her baby when it The common mud wasp that builds in 



shall appear upon the field of action. Now old garrets fills his nest with a species of 



the peculiar part of this proceeding to spider much relished by the young wasp 



which I wish to call attention is that the and exhibits much judgment in supplying 



worm is not dead, but is merely in a com- exactly the right number to provide for 



atose state. If it had been killed it would the growing wasp until he is able to sally 



have putrified and entirely disappeared forth and seize prey for himself. These 



before the young wasp was hatched. spiders often seventeen or eighteen of 



Furthermore, the young wasp is fond of them are stupefied in the same manner 



fresh caterpillar steak, preferably from as in the case of the potter wasp, and are 



the living animal. So Mrs. Wasp must living when the young wasp begins his 



have a method of preserving the fresh liv- repast. This habit is peculiar to many 



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