WHAT IS INTELLIGENCE? 203 



caterpillar, cricket, etc., have a nervous system which is 

 so well understood by the Hunter Wasp that he stings it 

 in the exact nerve center which will paralize, but not kill. 

 In this way the wasp provides fresh meat for its young. 

 The captured paralized victim is carried to the nest, and 

 the wasp lays its egg on a tender spot on the paralized 

 prey. No skilled surgeon can equal the wasp in suspend- 

 ing animation, and keeping the victim alive. It is now 

 conceded that if the wasp's victim 'was kept alive without 

 food or drink he would live but a few days, whereas that 

 same creature paralized by the wasp's poisonous sting 

 will live for several weeks. Where does man exhibit any 

 more foresight and intelligence than does this wasp? 



The mother wasp provides for a generation to come, 

 which she has never seen. Some wise men do the same 

 thing. The young wasp who has never seen its mother, 

 nor had any experience or instructions in the stinging and 

 paralyzing business, starts out and does the same thing 

 over again that its mother did. It knows how to use its 

 sting to paralyze the cricket without destroying its life ; 

 it knows where to find them ; it knows where to find the 

 material with which to build its nest ; it performs no fool- 

 ish, silly and useless actions. Man, that is some men, 

 show intelligence of a very high degree similar to the in- 

 sects ; but consider for a moment the countless absurd and 

 silly actions of the great majority of men today. I shall 

 not mention the every-day foolish actions that take place, 

 but shall call your attention to some, in the past, the con- 

 sideration of which will not be opposed by the prejudices 

 of the reader. I read in the Mason City Daily Times the 

 following: 



" 'Festival of the Ass.' If you should enter the church 

 today and find an ass tied near the altar ; and if, at the 

 conclusion of the services, the priest or preacher should 



