143 HUMBLE CREATURES. 



US at the same time in a position to form similar in- 

 stnunents for our own use, but He has in His mercy 

 crowned us with reasoning faculties, that we may 

 appreciate His goodness, and assist in the ftdfihnent 

 of His great ends by their wise and judicious em- 

 ployment. 



But there are other reasons why the mind of an insect 

 should be differently constituted to that of an Actinia. 

 The latter is fixed upon a rock in the sea ; and, though 

 it certainly possesses limited powers of locomotion, 

 yet there it is, always at the mercy of a passing fish 

 or Crustacean ; these browse upon it, just as a sheep 

 grazes upon the meadows. But with the insect it is 

 otherwise. The Bee, for example, has been placed in 

 a completely different natural sphere ; it builds for 

 itself a dwelling to afford it protection from the 

 weather, fortifies it to exclude enemies, and cements 

 it down firmly that it may not be left at the control 

 of the wind, as the Actinia is tossed about by every 

 passing wave. For this purpose it has to seek certain 

 natural substances, which serve the little architect 

 as bricks and mortar; and these operations neces- 

 sarily require discrimination, or what in ourselves we 

 teTcva. judgment; for, as it sometimes happens that the 

 proper materials are not within reach, the Bee is then 

 obliged to employ substitutes, and in so doing it never 

 blindly chooses the less efficient substance when a 

 better one is at hand, but invariably uses " the right 

 thing in the right place." 



