Chap. 5.] 
BEES. 
5 
in every part of the body ; least of all, however, in the head, 
which alone is subject to no movements unless torn off together 
with the corselet. ]S"o kind of animal has more feet than the 
insects have, and those among them which have the most, live 
the longest when cut asunder, as we see in the case of the scolo- 
pendra. They have eyes, and the senses as well of touch and 
taste ; some of them have also the sense of smelling, and some 
few that of hearing. 
CHAP. 4. (5.) BEES. 
But among them all, the first rank, and our especial admi- 
ration, ought, in justice, to be accorded to bees, which alone, 
of all the insects, have been created for the benefit of man. 
They extract honey and collect it, a juicy substance remarkable 
for its extreme sweetness, lightness, and wholesomeness. They 
form their combs and collect wax, an article that is useful for 
a thousand purposes of life ; they are patient of fatigue, toil at 
their labours, form themselves into political communities, hold 
councils together in private, elect chiefs in common, and, a thing 
that is the most remarkable of all, have their own code of morals. 
In addition to this, being as they are, neither tame nor wild, 
so all-powerful is l^ature, that, from a creature so minute as to 
be nothing more hardly than the shadow of an animal, she has 
created a marvel beyond all comparison.- What muscular 
power, what exertion of strength are vv^e to put in comparison 
with such vast energy and such industry as theirs ? "What dis- 
play of human genius, in a word, shall we compare with the 
reasoning powers manifested by them ? In this they have, at 
all events, the advantage of us — they know of nothing but what 
is for the common benefit of all. Away, then, with all questions 
w^hether they respire or no, and let us be ready to agree on 
the question of their blood ; and yet, how little of it can pos- 
sibly exist in bodies so minute as theirs. — And now let us 
form some idea of the instinct they display. 
CHAP. 5. (6.) THE OEDEE DISPLAYED m THE WOEKS OF BEES. 
Bees keep within the hive during the winter— for whence 
are they to derive the strength requisite to withstand frosts 
and snows, and the northern blasts ? The same, in fact, is 
done by all insects, but not to so late a period; as those 
