The Mason-bees 



we have servants, the Ant has hers; we rear 

 domestic animals, she rears her sugar-yielding 

 insects; we herd cattle, she herds her milch- 

 cows, the Aphides; wc have abolished slavery, 

 whereas she continues her nigger-traffic. 



Well, does this superior, this privileged 

 being reason? Reader, do not smile: this Is 

 a most serious matter, well worthy of our con- 

 sideration. To devote our attention to ani- 

 mals is to plunge at once into the vexed quest- 

 ion of who we are and whence we come. 

 What, then, passes in that little Hymenop- 

 teron brain? Has it faculties akin to ours, 

 has it the power of thought? What a pro- 

 blem, if we could only solve it; what a chapter 

 of psychology, if we could only write it ! But, 

 at our very first questionings, the mysterious 

 will rise up, impenetrable: we may be con- 

 vinced of that. We are incapable of knowing 

 ourselves; what will it be if we try to fathom 

 the intellect of others? Let us be content if 

 we succeed in gleaning a few grains of truth. 



What is reason? Philosophy would give 

 us learned definitions. Let us be modest and 

 keep to the simplest : we are only treating of 

 animals. Reason is the faculty that connects 

 the effect with its cause and directs the act by 

 i6o 



