The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1891-04-23

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his throat, that he must suffer at best q
scratch forty feet long before he gets rid
of the pin.-Neso York Sun.
Gods Small Mechanics.
How few of US realize that the little
animals, so many Of them-birds, beasts
| and insects-are such excellent mechan-
les, skilled in business and all building
| operations? What they do is done 80
cleverly and with such neatness and dis.
patch, and they never idle or lounge
about till the work is done, and we'll done,
too.
Take the fox, dealer in poultry, and
sometimes a wholesale dealer, as the far
mers and farmers wives know to their
cost. Not satisfied with chickens and
ducklings, he must push on his trade
among the full grown hens, and many q
good fat goose finds its way to his meat
cellar.
ga willy trader in his way
Is Reynard both by night and day"
The otter and the heron are fishermen,
though they use neither line nor net !
We seldom see the otter, for he works
his traps mostly under water--but the
heron may often be seen standing with
his long thin legs in the shallow part of
the stream; suddenly plunging his long
bill below the surface and bringing up
fish.
Whole tribes of birds are musicians.
They are amateurs and excel all others
in harmony. One called the "Nine
Killer" is an arithmetician, as also is the
crow, the wild turkey and some other
birds. The swallow is fly catcher, and
the number that he catches would aston.
! 81. anybody. You often see him at
work skimming along the surface of the
brook or pond. The torpedo, the ray
and the electric eel are electricians. The
nautilus is q navigator; he raises and
lowers his sail, casts and weighs anchor
and performs other nautical acts.
The beaver is an architect, mansion.
builder and wood cutter. He cuts down
trees and erects houses and dams, and 8
very good workman he is, too, with his
tail trowel. The marmot is civil ell
gineer. Hs not only builds houses, but
constructs aqueducts and drains, to keep
them dry. The squirrel is ferryman,
with chip or piece of bark for boat,
and his tail for sail, he crosses a stream.
Dogs, wolves, jackals and many others,
are hunters. The monkey is q rope
dancer. The ants are day laborers.
Who are more industrious in their call.
ing than they? They always seem so iu
earnest at their work. Catch them
asleep in the daytime, if you can. Surely
they set us all an example of Industry.
"Ants freely work without diguise;
Their ways consider, and be wise.'
The wasp is psper-maker in his
building. His paper is waterproof,
and made of material that no other
paper maker would use. Look, if you
want to sea anything interesting, at the
curious wasps' and hornets dwellings.
They are not patented, though it would
seem as if. they ought to be. And as for
the bee, he is a true professor of geome-
try, for he builds his cell so scientifically
that the smallest amount of material is
used in the largest spaces with the least
waste Of room. 1t would almost seem
that nature was very partial to the num-
Der six, for even, as in the snow crystals,
in the cells of the wasps and bees they
form regular hexagon. Why, when
there are so many polygons, has the in
stinct of these small insects only chosen
one hexagou as their unvarying pattern :
Why this preference? You, who are
studying geometry, will know that of all
the polygons described in circle, there
is but one whose sides are equal to the
radius of that circle, and this polygon is
exactly that of the bee and wasp's cell ;
and if you examine the work of the bee,
you will find in each cell Of honeycomb
8 pyramidal base composed of three equal
parts or rhombs, whose angles solve a
great geometrical problem-that of CIV
ing the maximum of space With The min
imum of matter-while the combs of the
wasp are formed of single row of cells,
with nearly level bottom. This is all
they need. All the mathematicians ot
all the colleges could Lot improve the
construction of these cells for their sew
eral uses. Nor can any of the people
who put up sealed cans, preserve provis-
ions as we'll as they. Even the FIRE e-fies
and the glow-worms are our little insect
lamp p.lighters. Who has not seen them
of Summers night2 So the caterpillar
is silk-spinner, far excelliug any other
line of business Indeed, We could not
learn an art that would supply any silk
worthy the name, without him. As we
review them it seems ss if they all had
thought and reflection, so wonderful are
the powers these little creatures have
Some of them can be taught tests, show
ing certain degree of intelligence which
even human being.:. do not possess, tie
intelligence of. wing mechanism. Take
the "Phalos.,"' born with a living rasp
squirt an u hydraulic apparatus. His foo
is bot a motor and piston. Within il