he had grown bigger than any of them.—Olive Thorne Miller, "The Bird Our Brother."
(72)
ALTRUISM IN INSECTS
A gentleman, while reading the newspaper,
feeling bothered by the buzzing of a
wasp about his head, beat it down. It fell
through the open window and lay on the
sill as if dead. A few seconds afterward,
to his great surprize, a large wasp flew
on to the window-sill, and after buzzing
around his wounded brother for a few
minutes, began to lick him all over. The
sick wasp seemed to revive under this
treatment, and his friend then gently
dragged him to the edge, grasped him
round the body and flew away with him.
It was plain that the stranger, finding a
wounded comrade, gave him "first aid,"
as well as he could, and then bore him
away home. This is one of many cases
in which the law of altruism is traceable
in the world of living things below man.
How much more should intelligent man
exercise this spirit of helpfulness in the
rescue of his fallen brother.
(73)
ALTRUISM IN NATURE
The flower does not live for itself. Beautiful,
fragrant-making, the tree an incense-holder,
hang the apple-blossoms for a day; to-*morrow
they have let go their hold upon
the tree and are scattered over the ground
in order that the fruit may grow. The fruit
guards the seed until it is mature, then the
fruit goes to decay that the seed may be released;
the seed gives up its life that a new
tree may come. What a glorious parable is
this: life for life, the old dying for the new;
every tree in the orchard, every grain-stalk
in the corn-field, every dusty weed by the
roadside living for others and ready to die
for others. The doctrine of unselfish love
and of sacrifice comes to us fragrant with
the odor of ten thousand blossoms and rich
with the yellow fruitage of ten thousand
harvests. Self-preservation is no longer the
first law of nature. The first law seems to be
preparation for that which is coming next.—John
K. Willey.
(74)
ALUMNI OCCUPATIONS
Beloit College has been coeducational for
about fifteen years. The following list of
what its women alumni are doing is given
in a current number of the college paper:
Eighty-eight are teaching.
Fifty-four are married.
Nineteen are at home.
Three are librarians.
Four are graduate students.
Two are college instructors.
One is supervisor of domestic economy.
One is vice-president of a bank.
One is a nurse.
One is an editor.
One is an assistant postmaster.
One is a visitor of Associated Charities.
One is superintendent of northwest district of United Charities in Chicago.
Two are high-school principals.
One is a student in the Baptist Missionary Training School, Chicago.
One is the industrial secretary of the Y. W. C. A., Detroit.
One is a bookkeeper in a bank.
One is a teacher in North China Union Woman's College, American Board.
One is nursery visitor of United Charities in Chicago.
One is a private tutor.
(75)
AMBASSADOR, THE MINISTER AS AN
The minister must be something as well
as do something. He must consistently
make an impression upon everybody he approaches
that he is in something unlike the
ordinary run of men. I do not mean that
he should be sanctimonious, for that repels;
it must be something in his own consciousness.
My father was a clergyman. One of
the most impressive incidents of my youth
occurs to me. He was in a party of gentlemen,
when one of them used a profane
word unthinkingly. With a start he turned
to my father, and said, "I beg your pardon,
Dr. Wilson." My father said, very simply
and gently, "Oh, sir, you have not offended
me." The emphasis he laid upon that word
"me" brought with it a tremendous impression.
All present felt that my father regarded
himself as an ambassador of someone
higher; their realization of it showed in
their faces.—Woodrow Wilson, The Churchman.
(76)
Ambidexterity Favored—See Asymmetry.
AMBITION
When William the Conqueror was born
his first exploit was to grasp a handful of
straw, and to hold it so tenaciously in his
little fist that the nurse could scarcely take
it away. This infantile prowess was considered
an omen, and the nurse predicted
that the babe would some day signalize him-
