The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1860-11-08
Faculties of Insects.

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various useful arts and machines to which
it has given birth; not aware that "He
who teacheth man knowledge" has in
structed insects to anticipate him in many
of them. The builders Of Babel doubtless
thought their invention of turning Garth
into an artificial stone, very happy dis
covery; yet bee had practiced this art,
using indeed different process on a
smaller scale, and the white ants on a
large one, ever since the world began !!
Man thinks he stands unrivalled as an ar
chitect, and that his buildings are without
parallel among the works of thc'inferior
orders of animals He would be OF dlt-
fercnt opinion did he attend to the bisto-
ry of insects; he would find that many of
them have been architects from time I'M
memorial, and that they have had their
houses divided into various apartments,
and containingstaircases gigantic arches,
domes, colonades, and the like; nay, that
even tunnels are excavated by them, so
immense, compared ed with theirow size,
as to be twelve Zines bigger than that
projected by Mr. Doddtobeseawied IN under l
the Thames at Gravesend! Themodern
lady who prides herself n.the lustre and
beauty of the scarlet hangings which
adorn the stately walls of her drawing
room, OF the carpets that cover its floor,
fancying that nothing SO rich andssplen=
did was ever seen before, and plying her
vulgar ancestors who were doomed to un-
slightly whitewash and rushes; is ignorant
all the while that before she or her ances-
cestors were in existence, and even before
tic boastcd Tyrian dye was discovered,
a little insect had knownhow to hang the
walls otits cell With tapestry Of a scarlet
more brilliant than any of her rooms esn
exhibit and that others daily weave silk
en- carpets, both in-tissue and texture, in
tinitely superior to those she SO much ad-
mires. Other arts have also been cquallcd
and forestallcd by these creatures What
vast Importance is attached to the invcn-
ton of paper! For near six thousand
wears one of our commoncst insects has
Known hom-to make and amply it to-nur=
poses; and even pastcboard, superior in
substance and polish to any we can pro-
ducc, is manufactured by another We
imagine that nothing short of intellect
can be equal to the construction of div
ing-bcll, or an air-pump; yet spider is in
the daily habit Of using the one, and what
is more, one exactly similar to ours, but
more ingeniously contrivcd; by means of
which, she resides unwctted in the bosom
of the water, and procures the necessary
supplies of air by amuch more simple pro-
cess than our alternating buckets. And
the caterpillar of a little moth knows how
to initiate the other, by producing a va
cuum when necessary for its purposes,
without any air pump besides its own
body. If we think with wonder of the
populous cities which have employed the
united labors of man for many ages to
bring them to their full extent what shall
we say to the white ants, which require
only few months to build metropolis
capable of containing an infinitely greater
number of inhabitants than even imperial
Ninevah, Babylon, Rome, or Pckin, in all
their glory?
Can we consider the curious history Of
the bees without adoring that divine wis
dom which teaches these diminutive crea.
lures to provide in SO wonderful a manner
for the security and sustcnance Of their
young? Who is it that instructs'them to
bore a fistular passageunder ground, OF in
the trunk of tree, for the reception OF
their nests. What rule do they take with
them to the shrub from which they bor-
row their materials to assist them in met
ing out their work, and by which they
cut some pieces into portions OF ovals' 9th
ers into accurate circles, and likewise to
suit the dimensions of the several pieces
of each figure so exactly to each other!
Where is the architect that can carry in
pressed on the tablet of his memory the
entire idea of the ediice he means to erect;
and without rule, square, plumb-line' or
compass, can cut out all his materials IN
their exact dimensions without making
single mistake, or single false stroke !!
And yet this is what these little insects
invariably do, and thus teach us how much
more wonderful and certain instinct is
than all the efforts of our boosted reason; ;