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, 
