Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1873-06-18

The two dogs rallied, formed in line, and,
trOtting defiantly back to the place whence
the strange dog had been elected, charged
boldly and vociferously at the porch where
member of the family vas still standing.
1t was too much. The assailants were
welcomed with screams of laughter which
the family could not repress, and the dogs,
feeling that they had only made themselves
ridiculous, sneaked OFF, evidently ashamed
of themselves.
This little incident may be classed among
trif1es But such tritles are of the class of
things which, as the man in the comedy
says, "no fellow can find out" Men can
decipher and interpret the inscriptions
on the remains of Nineveh, and recon
struct language from them, but nobody
can explain how animals communicate
their ideas to each other And yet they
obviously do, for they act in concert after
receiving information from each other.
And it is not only the larger animals who
do this, but insects. The beetle, dignifed
with the name of sacred" from its APP
pearance in Egyptian hieroglyphic SYM
bols, shows the same wonderful sagacity
to-day that it did when Moses floated in
the Nile, though it's modern name is less
stately. The creature envelop5 it's egg in
ball about the size of walnut, and rolls
the ball to place Of security. This is
arduous work and is equal to many
human piece of engineering. A recent
writer on natural history gives his obser-
vations upon a feat performed by these in
sects, which we can readily believe, hav-
ing observed the like. A ball in the pro-
gross of removal fell into hole, from
which the beetle in charge of transporta-
ton could not raise it. The insect disap-
peared and in few moments returned
with working party of three or four, who
soon relieved the master of transporta-
ton" of his dilemma. The ball was lifted
out, the laboring beetle went on her way,
keeping it rolling, and the others separat-
ed to return to their occupations, whatever
| they were.
The writer of this article once watched
a party of wasps who, in dragging the
carcass of a large insect, had to cross a
railroad. They got over one rail easy
enough from the outside, but to get over
the next puzzled them. The perpendicu-
lar iron was a serious difficulty, but the
smooth corner of the face of the rail was
worse. After many Intellectual attempts,
scouting parties were sent out, and in a
few moments the "base was changed" the
carcass was dragged along to ''practica-
Dlc CIOSSluS, dHu tlle party, pIuHuC1 auu
all, got safely over, just before train came
Numbering along. s5aa srafl
A good lady, who cared nothing about
the insect world, except as to the means of
discriminating the troublesome little enc
mics who devastated her store-room, pro-
nounced the conversation of two natural
lists as disgusting" She said they did
nothing at all the 'whole livelong even
ing'' "but talk about beetles and bugs and
such nasty things" Perhaps the general
popular feeling is not essentially different
from that of the pattern housekeeper,
though not so bluntly expressed. Yet the
study of the wonderful works of these
despised creatures, and the results Of the
performance of their functions in the
places assigned to them, at once elevate
our reverence for the power and wisdom
of the Creator. and show what great
events on the earth and its inhabitants may
grow from the operations of an insect
Islands have had their beginning in coral
reefs, and naturalist remarks that the
shore line Of a continent may date its
change from the creeping of periwinkle
over arock-Phsladelphia Ledger.