PERFECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTS. 129 



ture, in the first place, give a bee a differently shaped 

 tongue and mandibles ; render the surface of its posterior 

 tibiae flat instead of concave ; deprive them of the fringe 

 of hairs that forms the basket for carrying the masses of 

 pollen; of the auricle and pecten which enable the work- 

 ers to use these tibijE as pincers^ ; of the brush that lines 

 the inside of their plantae ? Can they lengthen its abdo- 

 men ; alter its colour and clothing ; give a curve to its 

 sting ; deprive it of its wax-pockets, and of the vessels for 

 secreting that substance; and render its ovaries more con- 

 spicuous, and capable of yielding female as well as male 

 eggs ? Can, in the next place, the seemingly trivial cir- 

 cumstances just enumerated altogether alter the instinct 

 of these creatures ? Can they give to one description of 

 animals address and industry; and to the other astonishing 

 fecundity? Can we conceive them to change the very pas- 

 sions, tempers, and manners ? That the very same foetus 

 if fed with more pungent food, in a higher temperature 

 and in a vertical position, shall become a female destined 

 to enjoy love, to burn with jealousy and anger, to be in- 

 cited to vengeance, and to pass her time without labour — 

 that this very same foetus, if fed with more simple food, 

 in a lower temperature, in a more confined and horizon- 

 tal habitation, shall come forth a worker zealous for the 

 .good of the community, a defender of the public rights, 

 enjoying an immunity from the stimulus of sexual appe- 

 tite and the pains of parturition — laborious, industrious, 

 patient, ingenious, skilful — incessantly engaged in the 

 nurture of the young; in collecting honey and pollen; in 

 elaborating wax; in constructing cells, and the like! — 

 paying the most respectful and assiduous attention to 



" Huber, /. 4./. 4—6. 

 VOL. II. K 



