PERFECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTS. 23 
tain the same end. Besides the language of nature, ges- 
tures, and exclamations, which the passions produce, 
he is gifted with the divine faculty of speech, and can 
express his thoughts by articulate sounds or artificial 
language.—Not so our social insects. Every species 
has its peculiar mode of proceeding, to which it adheres 
as to the law of its nature, never deviating but under the 
control of imperious circumstances ; for in particular in- 
stances, as you will see when I come to treat of their in- 
stincts, they know how to vary, though not very mate- 
rially, from the usual mode*. But they never depart, 
like man, from the general system ; and, in common with 
the rest of the animal kingdom, they have no articulate 
language. 
Human associations, under the direction of reason 
and revelation, are also formed with higher views,—I 
mean as to government, morals, and religion :—with re- 
spect to the last of these, the social insects of ccurse can 
have nothing to do, except that by their wonderful pro- 
ceedings they give man an occasion of glorifying his 
great Creator; but in their instincts, extraordinary as 
it may seem, they exhibit a semblance of the two former, 
as will abundantly appear in the course of our corre- 
spondence. 
I shall not detain you longer by prefatory remarks 
from the amusing scene to which I am eager to introduce 
you; but the following observations of M. P. Huber 
@ Plusieurs d’entre eux (Insectes) savent user de ressources ingé- 
nieuses dans les circonstances difficiles : ils sortent alors de leur rou- 
tine accoutumée et semblent agir d’aprés la position dans laquelle ils 
se trouvent; c’est 14 sans doute l’un des phénomenes les plus cu- 
rieux de Vhistoire naturelle. Huber, Nouvelles Observations sur les 
Abeilles, ii. 198.—Compare also ibid. 250, note N. B. 
