96 Of A N T S. 
According to the Son of Sirach, * a Man need 
not fay , what is this , wherefore is that ? for he 
hath made all things for their Ufes. 
The chief and mod obvious Defign, hitherto 
difcovered, of the noble Infedl before us, is its 
being intended as Suftenance for many Species of 
Animals, but in particular for young Pheafants 
and Partridges. The tender Infancy of thefe Birds 
calls for an eafy and delicious Repaft, which is fo 
happily contrived by the Difpofition of Ants, as 
highly tends to exemplify the fuperior Wifdom 
and Beneficence of the great Creator. If we re® 
colledl the Period when their Vermicles begin to 
augment, their Progrefs, and the Metamorphofes 
they undergo, with feveral other Circumfiances; 
and if we compare all this with the Contexture 
of Young Birds, and the Seafon when they make 
their Appearance, the Defign will be no lefs con- 
fpicuous than wonderful. The Eggs of a Queen 
Ant, in a fhort Time after they are laid, tranfi- 
form to fmall Worms, and having continued in 
this Shape a Winter without any confiderable En¬ 
largement, in the Spring they increafe every Day 
by the plentiful Nurture the Workers aiFord them* 
Towards June, all the Female and moil of the 
* Ecclefiaftictis, xxxix. z i. 
Mak 
