superior to our own, certain persons will not be pleased by what I am going
to say about ants. But there are men, incomparably wiser than I can ever
hope to be, who think about insects and civilizations independently of the
blessings of Christianity; and I find encouragement in the new Cambridge
Natural History, which contains the following remarks by Professor David
Sharp, concerning ants:--



"Observation has revealed the most remarkable phenomena in the lives of
these insects. Indeed we can scarcely avoid the conclusion that they have
acquired, in many respects, the art of living together in societies more
perfectly than our own species has; and that they have anticipated us in
the acquisition of some of the industries and arts that greatly facilitate
social life."



I suppose that a few well-informed persons will dispute this plain
statement by a trained specialist. The contemporary man of science is not
apt to become sentimental about ants or bees; but he will not hesitate to
acknowledge that, in regard to social evolution, these insects appear to
have advanced "beyond man." Mr. Herbert Spencer, whom nobody will charge
with romantic tendencies, goes considerably further than Professor Sharp;
showing us that ants are, in a very real sense, ethically as well as
economically in advance of humanity,-- their lives being entirely devoted
to altruistic ends. Indeed, Professor Sharp somewhat needlessly qualifies
his praise of the ant with this cautious observation:--