174 BRITISH BEES. 



but an assortment of vapid machinery, no click of whose 

 wheels gives note of the vital hilarity of their relative 

 and combined effects. The final cause of creation 

 escapes us thus frittering it into details, which if we 

 merely abide by, we but loiter at the foot of Pisgah, in- 

 stead of ascending its summits to survey thence the 

 sunny and varied landscape, the glorious sea, and, arch- 

 ing over all, the blue cope of heaven. The manifold 

 relations of animate and inanimate nature^ which, al- 

 though they must be studied in detail, are to be appre- 

 ciated in their entirety, should stimulate the efforts of 

 the naturalist to conquer all impending difficulties, and 

 he should not permit himself to be satisfied with this 

 preliminary knowledge. 



Although the above be the inevitable effect of dis- 

 tributing nature into its component parts, it is the in- 

 dispensable precursor to the study, for the scientific 

 treatment is the only mode whereby, through special 

 study, we can arrive at the comprehension of the great 

 generality. We thus strive to trace the mode in which 

 each emanates from each ; and even when this is not 

 absolutely tangible we may discover affinities or analo- 

 gies by structural resemblances which implicitly lead to 

 physiological inferences, and thence on, higher and 

 higher, all lending us aid to make the larger survey, 

 wherein we behold the concatenation of the many links 

 which harmonize the spiritual with the material. But 

 the study must be thorough, and its details are not to 

 be spread out before us merely as a beautiful picture- 

 book. They all have their place in the great ordinance 

 of nature, which it is for us to find. At first we can 

 only spell the syllables, which the study of species puts 

 together for us, but by degrees we shall trace the words. 



