52 CONVERSATIONS ON 



makers; and very glad we are that we saw 

 this old piece of a wasp's nest. Who would 

 have thought that so much could be learned 

 by picking up this old scrap of a wasp's 

 work !" 



" Very good sense, boys, in that thought. 

 A wise man will learn something from almost 

 any thing. Use your eyes, and think of what 

 you see. Now in this very trade of paper- 

 making. I think that man would have found 

 it out a great deal sooner if he had watched 

 the wasps at their work. They have been 

 excellent workmen at this business from the be- 

 ginning ; and man has gone on learning little 

 by little of this very trade, as I will tell you at 

 some other time, when he might have made a 

 long step at once, had he but noticed wasps 

 and hornets. We go on very slowly some- 

 times in learning to make a trade as perfect 

 as it can be : the poor animal, with its know- 

 ledge such as God gave it, is often our supe- 

 rior. These dumb creatures cannot teach us 

 every thing ; there is a point to which they 

 can go, and no further : but as far as they do 

 know, their knowledge is perfect ; and I make 

 no doubt that a great many useful things not 

 now known will hereafter be found out by 

 watching dumb animals." 



