Social Life Among the Insects
by . New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co. 1923. 8vo. viii+375 pp. Illustrated. $4.00.
As an illustration of what can be done to render scientific facts democratically available, one can point with pleasure to Social Life among the Insects, first delivered as a series of lectures at the Lowell Institute in Boston in March 1923. Not that Professor Wheeler sacrifices explicitness to an altogether popular vocabulary, for there are words scattered over his pages upon which the eye of the uninitiated falls with an unfamiliar glance; but even in those passages into which technical diction is admitted, the context carries the meaning through to the thoughtful, though nonscientific, reader. The way is blazed humorously, as witness the suggestion (p. 36) that ‘tippling Tommy,’ the little beetle ‘with a predilection for boring in the staves of rum casks . . . might be adopted by our prohibitionists as their totem-animal.’
Anyone with a natural curiosity concerning those weirdest of our fellow creatures, the insects, will find so much to astonish him that he will follow, with amazed interest, the account of twenty-four of their societies representing different stages in the evolution of the social habit. Good figures (116 drawings and photographs) supplement the text. The documentary appendix refers to the sources of such information in the book as is not based on Professor Wheeler’s own extensive investigations.
The main emphasis in these lectures is put ‘on the hunger appetite, because it is the most fundamental, exhibits the most astonishing developments, and is found to have an even greater influence on the reproductive and protective appetites than we had supposed.’
But Social Life among the Insects is not, despite its title, an entomological treatise solely. The deeper message of the writer rings through the pages in a sermon to such members of human society as look upon themselves as something apart from biological laws that govern all life impartially. ‘Although man furnishes the most striking illustrations of the ease with which both the parasitic and host rôles may be assumed by a social animal, his capacities in these directions have been little appreciated by the sociologists.’ This we are told (p. 197) with an earnestness that indicates that the underlying philosophy of the book is addressed to students of sociology. The phenomena of mutual aid and coöperation ‘so prevalent among plants and animals’ are dwelt upon with significant emphasis; and it is but fair to give the meaning of the book in Professor Wheeler’s own words: —
‘If asked why it seems advisable to devote six lectures to social life among the insects, I might say that these creatures exhibit many of the most extraoriUnary manifestations of that general organic coöperativeness which I have just mentioned, and that these manifestations have not only an academic but also a practical interest at the present time. For if there is a world-wide impulse that more than any other is animating and shaping all our individual lives since the World War, it is that toward ever greater solidarity . . . for the purpose of greater mutual helpfulness.’ EDITH M. PATCH.
These reviews will be reprinted separately in pamphlet form. Copies may be had by any librarian, without charge, on application to the Atlantic Monthly, 8 Arlington St., Boston. For ten or more copies there is a charge of one cent per copy.