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CHAPTER VIII. 
A NEW ARRANGEMENT OF BRITISH BEES, WITH ITS 
RATIONALE, AND AN INTRODUCTION TO THE FAMILY, 
SUBFAMILIES, SECTIONS, AND SUBSECTIONS. 
If perfection of instinct, and an organization exquisitely 
moulded to a complete adaptation to the many delicate 
and varied functions of that instinct, as well as to the 
exercise of every faculty incidental to the class, be cer¬ 
tainly a proof of pre-eminence, we may justly claim this 
position for the Order Hymenoptera. There is no cha¬ 
racteristic in which they are deficient, nor any in which 
some of the members of the Order do not transcend in 
aptitude the insects of all the others. 
If they have not been placed at the head of the class 
Insecta, it has been because systematic convenience did 
not permit the transposition, on account of the inter¬ 
ruption it would have caused to the convenient linking 
of the rest in a consecutive arrangement. Yet are they 
the most volatile fliers, the most agile runners, the most 
skilful burrowers, and consummate architects. 
The beauty resulting from the combinations of sym¬ 
metry of form, elegance of motion, brilliancy of colour, 
and vivacity of expression, is to be found exclusively 
