Then how is it done? It fills one hand with its own spittle, rubs it well in with the other, and gives the finishing touch with the bushy end of its tail, using its claws as a comb.

You would naturally expect to find a wonderful amount both of affection and decision in the elephant, and so you do; the remarkable eye of this survivor of a former world is indicative of great regard for its species, while its natural history exhibits the most untiring energy perhaps of any quadruped.

In the Zoological Gardens, recently, a large female elephant had a calf, which she was bringing up with maternal solicitude. Now this calf was possessed with a spirit of obstinacy, and disliked the necessary bath as much as other babies too often do. The mother was observed to do all that a mother either could or should, and, at last, finding every other power fail, she was seen deliberately to take hold of her baby with her huge trunk— which we are told has so many as forty thousand muscles, that is one hundred times as many as you and I have in our whole bodies—and throw it into the water to give its hide a thorough cleansing. But before this, my friend, who related this story to me as the result of his own observation, observed the old mother roll the baby elephant over and over in the mud of her bath, then casting it into the water as described; and on asking the keeper for an explanation, it appeared that the juvenile elephant was swarming with fleas, and the mother, trying without effect to get the little one into the water that they might be got rid of, threw her baby in, first having the forethought to smother the parasites in the mud.

The nurses,

Now contrast this once more with the ant. without any experience-for there are no "Florence Nightingales" amongst them-the nurses at once "go about their business;" and if I were to transcribe the duties of nurses for their instruction, as soon as it is

decided they should devote their lives to that profession, this is something like what it would be. But as sometimes the nurses become workers, and the workers nurses, neither saying "it is no business of theirs," as in members of another family it is sometimes said, we may include both services under one.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR ANT NURSES AND WORKERS.

To collect stubble, wood, leaves, &c., with which to form a habitation.

To build the nest in such manner that it may be impervious both to wind and water.

To excavate tunnels from the summit, the number of tunnels to depend upon the population who shall have to traverse them.

To take care the apertures of these avenues are not large enough to admit an enemy, and barricade all the entrances, finally closing the outer entrance with leaves.

In the morning to clear away these barricades, but to leave sufficient to protect the nest in the event of rain or of threatening weather.

To erect special chambers as nurseries for the larvæ and pupæ, communicating with each other by galleries.

To deposit eggs in these nurseries, and when they become larvæ to form a body-guard specially to defend the infant ants as they are passing from one life to another, and to be prepared with a ready sting to attack all intruders.

To feed the larvæ, and, above all things, to take care the strength of the food is exactly suited to the age of the infant.

To ascertain the state and condition of the weather, and to communicate the fact of its general character to the world below; and when the weather is settled and clear to bring out the infants, placing them in such position that they may receive the rays of the sun.

To see they are never out for this airing for more than a quarter of an hour at a time, and to take care they are put into their cradles again; and then again in the afternoon to take them out for a short season for the same purpose as before.

To cleanse the larva, and keep free from all impurity, by licking over every part of its little body.

To watch for the proper time to assist the pupa from the case in which it is entombed, and to cut the silken cocoon made by the larva carefully with the mandibles, first scraping away the silken texture, inserting the point of the mandibles into the aperture, using them as other animals do a pair of scissors, cutting across the cocoon in a direct line.

To assist other nurses and labourers in the delivery of the perfect insect, and to keep it on its arrival into the world for which it had previously been prepared; and while some are employed cutting open the cocoon, others are gently to assist the new-born ant, so that its wings may not be damaged as it is being drawn into life.

When the perfect ant first comes into the world, to smooth down its antennæ, palpi, legs, wings, and body, and to help it to stand on its six feet; to cleanse its eyes in the front of its head, and to encourage it by fond caresses.

To remove the empty cocoon and the remains of the old body to the extremity of the nest, and to watch with the greatest care over the new-born insect.

To attend them in their wanderings about the nest, and' to direct them through the dark tunnels and chambers in which their future life is to be spent.

When a portion of the old colony shall decide upon migration, to watch the females as they disrobe themselves of their wings, and to offer assistance to such as shall decide upon becoming nurses to the families, and especially to honour the queen, and to excavate a small chamber for the especial occupation of her majesty.

Lastly, to form bands of press-gangs for the purpose of kidnapping the workers of other tribes, and, treating them kindly, to compel them to labour for the rest, providing them with food and lodging in exchange for their work. To select the black ants only for such purpose.

To appoint scouts to ascertain the exact position in which a colony of negroes are to be found, and to see they return and report their successes; and then to constitute a grand body of soldiers, headed by a constantly replenished. guard; and, when arriving at the destination, to surround the negro colony, then the foremost to commence the attack, to slay the black sentinels should they offer resistance; then quietly to wait the out-turn of the invaded, who will be greatly alarmed by the report of the attack without. To follow up the attack by tearing open the sides of the ant-hill and rushing into the midst of the citadel; then to secure the infant pupæ, and to retire with the captives, bearing the living burden tenderly home.

the

On arriving at home, to treat the slaves with care and attention in return for their labours; to see they repair the nest, excavate passages, collect food, feed "superior" larvæ, take the young out for an airing into the sunshine, and perform every office which the welfare of the colony may require.

Now, tell me, don't you think Solomon was right when he wrote, "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise"? whilst his friend said, "The ants are a people not strong, yet are they exceeding wise;" and if an insect can use its instinct in so wonderful a manner, how much more should we learn to use our intelligence?

But, do we?

This chapter is an inquiry: do not such cases as we have just read supply an answer?

The boundary-line between the highest type of instinct and the lowest of intelligence is very small indeed; man's

true reason begins where the brute's highest type of instinct leaves off. "Polished steel," says Foster, "will not shine in the dark; no more can reason, however refined, shine efficaciously, but as it reflects the light of divine truth. shed from heaven."

Brutes, in a state of nature, exhibit very few of the higher orders of instinct they exhibit after living in the company of their captors. No, they learn from him; sometimes the more viciously inclined borrow his bad parts, while the gentle imitate his virtues.

Some time ago, in Paris, there was a shoe-cleaner by one of the Seine bridges who earned his living by cleaning the boots of passengers. It was remarked by many that very soon after their boots had been cleaned and paid for a mud-bespattered dog ran over them in a neighbouring street, rendering a second cleaning, and therefore a second payment, necessary. You will easily guess whose dog this was, and who had taught him to improve his instinct, so that he became a conspirator.

We read in Proverbs vi. 6 that the ant "provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest." Although in our own country we do not find Solomon's description of ant economy answer this character, in the East it is otherwise, where grain and other food is stored up for future use by the ants.

The Arabians, it is said, held the wisdom of the ant in such veneration that they used to place one of these insects in the hand of a newly-born infant, repeating the words, "May the boy turn out clever and skilful!"

But while complimenting "the little people" on their wonderful amount of wisdom, and while considering their economical habits in providing for the future, teaching us that we may show our intelligence to the greatest advantage by making provision for the great future before us, do let me say a word for a monkey.

The story I would tell came to me from one who was