The Life of the Bee 



wraps almost all that exists in an eternal 

 unconsciousness. 



Were we sole possessors of the particle 

 of matter that, when maintained in a 

 special condition of flower or incandes- 

 cence, we term the intellect, we should to 

 some extent be entitled to look on our- 

 selves as privileged beings, and to imagine 

 that in us nature achieved some kind of 

 aim ; but here we discover, in the hymen- 

 optera, an entire category of beings in 

 whom a more or less identical aim is 

 achieved. And this fact, though it decide 

 nothing perhaps, still holds an honour- 

 able place in the mass of tiny facts that 

 help to throw light on our position in 

 this world. It affords even, if considered 

 from a certain point of view, a fresh proof 

 of the most enigmatic part of our being ; 

 for the superpositions of destinies that we 

 find in the hive are surveyed by us from 

 an eminence loftier than any we can attain 

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