ANT COMMUNITIES 



mysteries, conceived of the bee commune as a well- 

 ordered kingdom, whose "divers functions "' are bound 

 together by "obedience 1 ." The passage is well worth 

 quoting for its bearing upon the matter before us : 



"So work the honey-bees, 

 Creatures that, by a rule in nature, teach 

 That act of order to a peopled kingdom. 

 They have a king and officers of sorts; 

 Where some, like magistrates, correct at home; 

 Others, like merchants, venture trade abroad; 

 Others, like soldiers, armed in their stings, 

 Make boot upon the summer's velvet buds; 

 Which pillage, they, with merry march, bring home 

 To the tent-royal of their emperor, 

 Who, busied in his majesty, surveys 

 The singing masons building roofs of gold; 

 The civil citizens kneading up the honey; 

 The poor mechanic porters crowding in 

 Their heavy burdens at his narrow gate; 

 The sad-ey'd justice, with his surly hum, 

 Delivering o'er to executors pale 

 The lazy, yawning drone. I this infer, 

 That many things, having full reference 

 To one consent, may work contrariously." 



King Henry F., Act I., Sc. 2, 1. 187 sqq. 



Making due allowance for poetic license, and taken 

 in its broad intent and general sense, this passage ex- 

 presses fairly well the varied duties under one common 

 discipline that occupy the energies of an ant commune. 

 The reader can analyze it and follow out the analo- 

 gies for himself. Perhaps he may be able to point the 

 needle of his thoughts to that "rule in nature' 1 which 

 brings about and regulates this "act of order." If so, 

 the author will confess that he has compassed a mystery 

 that thus far has eluded his own research. 



But for the "act" itself we may venture, without 



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