Bramble-bees and Others 



to make a more thorough investigation. The 

 popularity of certain speculative views is due 

 entirely to the easy food which they provide 

 for our curiosity. They save us much long 

 and often Irksome study; they Impart a veneer 

 of general knowledge. There is nothing that 

 achieves such Immediate success as an expla- 

 nation of the riddle of the universe in a word 

 or two. The thinker does not travel so fast : 

 content to know little so that he may know 

 something, he limits his field of search and 

 is satisfied with a scanty harvest, provided 

 that the grain be of good quality. Before 

 agreeing that the tool determines the trade, 

 he wants to see things with his own eyes; and 

 what he observes Is far from confirming the 

 dogmatic aphorism. Let us share his doubts 

 for a moment and look into matters more 

 closely. 



Franklin left us a maxim which is much 

 to the point here. He said that a good work- 

 man should be able to plane with a saw and 

 to saw with a plane. The insect is too good 

 a workman not to follow the advice of the 

 sage of Boston. Its Industry abounds in in- 

 stances where the plane takes the place of 

 the saw, or the saw of the plane ; its dexterity 



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