Bramble-bees and Others 



manifests a tendency to achieve the es- 

 sential with a minimum of expenditure; 

 after its own fashion, the insect bears witness 

 to the economy of energy. On the one hand, 

 instinct imposes upon it a craft that is un- 

 changeable in its fundamental features; on 

 the other hand, it is left a certain latitude in 

 the details, so as to take advantage of fa- 

 vourable circumstances and attain the object 

 aimed at with the least possible expenditure of 

 time, materials and work, the three elements 

 of mechanical labour. The problem in higher 

 geometry solved by the Hive-bee is only a par- 

 ticular case — true, a magnificent case — of this 

 general law of economy which seems to go- 

 vern the whole animal world. The wax cells, 

 with their maximum capacity as against a 

 minimum wall-space, are the equivalent, with 

 the superaddition of a marvellous scientific 

 skill, of the Osmia's compartments in which 

 the stonework is reduced to a minimum 

 through the selection of a reed. The artificer 

 in mud and the artificer in wax obey the same 

 tendency: they economize. Do they know 

 what they are doing? Who would venture 

 to suggest it in the case of the Bee grappling 

 with her transcendental problem ? The others, 



