mice, as in the
country, the humble bees are kept down; but in the neighbourhood of
towns, the number of cats which prowl about the fields eat up the field
mice, and of course the more mice they eat up the less there are to prey
upon the larvae of the bees--the cats are therefore the INDIRECT HELPERS
of the bees! [2] Coming back a step farther we may say that the old
maids are also indirect friends of the humble bees, and indirect enemies
of the field mice, as they keep the cats which eat up the latter! This
is an illustration somewhat beneath the dignity of the subject, perhaps,
but it occurs to me in passing, and with it I will conclude this
lecture.

[Footnote 1: I lay stress here on the 'practical' signification of
"Species." Whether a physiological test between species exist or not, it
is hardly ever applicable by the practical naturalist.]

[Footnote 2: The humble bees, on the other hand, are direct helpers of
some plants, such as the heartsease and red clover, which are fertilized
by the visits of the bees; and they are indirect helpers of the numerous
insects which are more or less completely supported by the heartsease
and red clover.]

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Affecting The Perpetuation Of Living Beings, by Thomas H. Huxley

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