Chapter x 



THE IGNORANCE OF INSTINCT 



The Sphex has shown us how infallibly and 

 with what transcendental art she acts when 

 guided by the unconscious inspiration of her 

 instinct ; she is now going to show us how 

 poor she is in resource, how limited in intelli- 

 gence, how illogical even, in circumstances out- 

 side of her regular routine. By a strange 

 inconsistency, characteristic of the instinctive 

 faculties, profound wisdom is accompanied by 

 an ignorance no less profound. To instinct 

 nothing is impossible, however great the diffi- 

 culty may be. In building her hexagonal cells, 

 with their floors consisting of three lozenges, 

 the Bee solves with absolute precision the 

 arduous problem of how to achieve the maxi- 

 mum result at a minimum cost, a problem whose 

 solution by man \vould demand a powerful 

 mathematical mind. The Wasps whose larvae 

 live on prey display in their murderous art 

 methods hardly rivalled by those of a man 

 versed in the intricacies of anatomy and 



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