nces a wide range of
instincts which are intimately related to the economy of the hive; but
these motives appear to be of an unchangeable character. They show no
tendency to undergo the modifications which we observe to take place in
our birds and mammals when they are brought under the influence of man.
The only case in which they show any distinct effect from their contact
with man is found in their evident recognition of those who care for
them. They soon learn that their master is not to be feared, and,
therefore, need not be resisted; but, beyond this dumb acceptance of a
situation, they exhibit no trace of sympathetic recognition of our
kind. It is clear that their mental endowments, though considerable,
are very much more remote from our own than are those of the
vertebrated animals with which we have formed a friendly association.
Moreover, the type of life of the creatures in a way excludes them from
any kind of share in human society. Each of them is, from its birth to
its death, entirely devoted to the interests of its little
commonwealth. Every impulse of their being relates to the economy of
their hive. While we know little about instinct, we know enough of its
manifestations to state that the real unit of this species is not the
individual insect, but the colony to which it belongs. The separate
form is hardly more than a bit of machinery so arranged that it may
operate at a distance from the engine of which it forms a part. On this
account it appears to be impossible for us ever to attain to any kind
of sympathetic relations with these creatures.

Even more important than the bees are those insects which, in their
immature state, yield us silk. The so-called silkworms, like the bees,
originated in Asia, and have long been in the care of man. Beginning
their experiments in spinning with the wool of animals and the various
accessible vegetable fibres, men have ever been seeking materials which
could serve them in the weaver's art. At one time or another they have
tried an exceeding variety of materials; in modern days more than a
score of insects have been experimented with in the endeavor to obtain
fibres which could be turned to use. So far, however, the _Bombyx
mori_--the form which, as its specific name indicates, feeds upon the
leaves of the mulberry tree--is the only one which proves really
serviceable. The advantages of this species are found in a peculiar
assemblage of qualities, each of which is ne