330 INSTINCTS OF BEES. 



I shall adduce another instance in support of 

 my position that insects are endowed with reason, 

 and that they mutually communicate and receive 

 information. " A German artist of strict veracity, 

 states, that in his journey through Italy, he was 

 an eye-witness to the following occurrence. He 

 observed a species of Scarabceus busily engaged, 

 in making for the reception of its egg a pellet of 

 dung, which when finished, the insect rolled to the 

 summit of a hillock, and repeatedly suffered it to 

 tumble down the slope, apparently for the purpose 

 of consolidating the pellet by the adhesion of 

 earth to it in its rotating motion. During this pro- 

 cess, the pellet unluckily fell into a hole, out of 

 which the beetle was unable to extricate it. After 

 several ineffectual attempts, the insect went to an 

 adjoining heap of dung, and soon returned with 

 three companions. All four applied their united 

 strength to the pellet, and at length succeeded in 

 pushing it out, when the three assistant beetles 

 left the spot, and returned to their own quarters*." 



MR. HUNTER speaks rather sarcastically, upon 

 the subject of reason being one of the attributes 

 of insects. " Reason," says he, " has been ascribed 

 to bees ; they have been supposed to be legislators, 

 and even mathematicians ; and though there is 

 some show of reason for these suppositions, there is 



* Kirby and Spence, vol. ii. p. 522. 



