180 ESSAYS OF A BIOLOGIST 



essence of that Power inhered in the race 

 of Ants. Ants, indeed, were made in the 

 image of God. 



(1.2) It was, alas, common knowledge that this 

 Power, although Omnipotent and Omnis- 

 cient, was confronted by another power, 

 the power of disorder, of irregularity, who 

 prevented tasks, put temptations in the 

 way of workers, and was in fact the genius 

 of Evil. 



(2) Further, it was a received tradition among them 

 that there had been a fall from the grace 

 of a Golden Age, when there were no neu- 

 ters, but all enjoyed married bliss; and the 

 ant-cows gave milk and honey from their 

 teats. 



(2.1) And that this was forfeited by a crime (un- 

 mentionable, I regret to say, in modern so- 

 ciety) on the part of a certain Queen of 

 Ants in the distant past. The Golden Age 

 was gone; the poor neuters — obligate spin- 

 sters — were brought into being; work be- 

 came the order of the day. Ant-lions with 

 flaming jaws were set round that kingdom 

 of Golden Age, from which all ants were 

 thenceforth expelled. 



(2.2.1) This being so, it was natural to conclude 

 that the fall from grace involved a certain 

 loss of divine qualities. 



(2.2.2) The general conclusion to be drawn was 



