The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-07-10
NATURAL BUILDERS.
eoASTFuL MAN SHOULD CONSIDER
THE WORK OF ANIMALS.

The Great Builder Has Given Extraordi-
nary Instinct and Capacity to Some APP
parentIy Insignificant Creatures-A Few
of tho Many Wonders Performed.
Man prides himself upon his marvellous
inventions. He holds UP to the admira-
ton of tho world tho wonderful buildings
which 10 hos constructed and thinks him-
self unrivaled as an architeot, but, "He
who teaches man knowledge has instructed
the smallest insects In the art Of building
nnd hos thus anticipated tho works of
nan as an architect" They who builded
the tower of Babel thought their invention
Of turning earth into stone most won.
derful discovery, but the white ant and
tho busy little bee had praoticed this art
from the earliest days Tho great matho
matioian instructed the tiny boo how to
build its Arst cell in the manner which
combines the greatest amount Of strength
with tho least material. Instinct. which
may DO called perpetual memory, has pre-
served the knowledge thus communicated,
and the art has been praotioed by the
countless myriads of their descendants In
oil chimes and countries The little bee has
been engaged In storing away tho honey
In those hexagonal cells, constructing the
coils Of wax and placing within them the
bee bread, paste made of pollen and
honey, for tho food OF the young. In each
OF these cells tho queen bee deposits an
egg. Some Of the boes surround their nests
with down collected from the leaves of
plants to servo as nonoonduotor of heat;
TO guard against changes Of temperature.
Nature taught the inferior orders of ani-
mails carpentry, taught them to divide
their houses into various apartments to
construct domes, arches, stairoases and
polonnades md to excavate tunnels Tho
scarlet hangings of the ancient city Of
Tyre excited tho admiration of the then
known world. but thero was littlo insect
TINT knew tho art, long before the celo-
brated Tyrion dyo was discovered, of hang
ing the walls of it's coll with tapestry of q
scarlet moro brilliant than that of Tyre.
Selecting the scarlet petals of tho poppy,
the upholstorer boo outs small, oval pieces
as neatly as II dono with pair Of scissors,
scizes tho pieces between her legs and cnr-
RIGS them to her nest. She ovorlays them
three or four In thickness, fitting tho pieces
very dextrously, and thus hanging her
nest oil around with this splendid Scarlet
tapestry. In this beautiful nest her eggs
arc hatched. The carpets that cover the
floors OF our houses aro inferior In tissue
and texture to the woavos Of silScn carpet
daily woven by insects which limo their
habitations with these silken textures.
Tho fabrication of lace has ever been a
dainty one, but industrious little creatures
often defend their helpless chrysalis by
building 1t house or covering Of
beautiful lace Tho manufacture of paper
is OF comparatively recent date, but this
manufacture was long ago forestalled by
the snappish wasp and the irritable hornet.
n nat otn nd
more than 5000 years ago by some Of our
commonest insects.
Men have been ages in bringing popu-
lous cities to their fullest extent, but the
white ants require only few months to
build city containing much larger
number Of inhabitants than Babylon In
oil its glory. These hnbitations are built
with two stories with long galleries and
numerous chambers. The spider weaves
his homo rs silken net; the locust con-
structs his of the bark of trees, cut into
shape by sawlike organ which he pos
sesses; the king1sher rears Its young in q
floating cradle; the ant builds winding
passages to numerous chambers. In tho
innermost of these chambers tho infant
treasures arc laid at night to protect them
from cold in tho morning, when tho sun
is up, tho workers convey the Larvae TO the
npper chambers, close under tho roof,
whore they may havo warmth. The opos-
sum carries her house, her cradle, her
bed, her family, all with her In the won
derful pouch with which nature hos en-
dowcd her. The hamstcrs create vaults
whore cach young ono has separate apart
ment.
Tho beaver hut is round and arched and
has cellar, flooring n ceiling and q
roof raised by an animal destitute. of tho
builders art and instructed only by ma
ture. The hare keeps open chimney to
his burrow for circulation of air, from
which In cold countries little column of
steam is often seen to arise. The chimpan-
zee builds for himself u hut of branches
and leaves. which is, however, roofless.
Many shellfsh have been taught by Mother
Nature to enlarge their houses without
moving out Of them. Birds build various
kinds of nests in various kinds of places.
They hang them from trees, they sew thom
to living leaf. thcy weave mating
above them, they build them in sections
under common roof in tho shape of
purse, they place them in tufts of grass
where
They found their lowly house of withored
lcnts
And coarscr spear grass.
They lire their houses with feathers.
leaves grass, hair, string, moss; they &C.
ment them, they glue them, they plaster