Masterpieces of Science 



him in intelligence is neither a t)iped nor a 

 quadruped, but that king of the insect tribe, 

 the ant, which can be a herdsman and ware- 

 house-keeper, an engineer and builder, an 

 explorer • and a general. With all his varied 

 powers the ant lacks a peculiarity in his costume 

 which has denied him enlistment in a task of 

 revolution in which creatures far his inferiors 

 have been able to change the face of the earth. 

 And the marvel of this peculiarity of garb 

 which has meant so much, is that it consists 

 in no detail of graceful outline, or beauty of 

 tint, but solely in the minor matter of texture. 

 The ant, warrior that he is, wears smooth and 

 shining armour; the bee, the moth and the 

 butterfly are clad in downy vesture, and simply 

 because thus enabled to catch dust on their 

 clothes these insects, as weavers of the web of 

 life, have counted for immensely more than 

 the ant with all his brains and character. To 

 understand the mighty train of consequences 

 set in motion by this mere shagginess of coat, 

 let us remember that, like a human babe, every 

 flowering plant has two parents. These two 

 parents, though a county's breadth divide 

 them, are wedded the instant that pollen from 

 the anther of one of them meets the stigma of 

 the other. Many flowers find their mates upon 

 their own stem; but, as in the races of animals, 

 too close intermarriage is hurtful, and union 

 with a distant stock promotes both health and 

 vigor. Hence the great gain which has come 

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