77:2 Causes and Course of Okganic Evolution 



nionious and perennial regularity. So "the ant colony, as 

 many authors have suggested, is analogous to a single large 

 organism, in which the soma is represented by the body of 

 workers, the reproductive organs by the fertilized queen. It 

 follows, of course, from this conception, that the differentiation 

 of the colonial soma into castes is merely the visible result of 

 a psychological and physiological division of labor" (225: 522). 



So the fundamental principle thus worked out in the higher 

 species of ants is that already cited as the successful one in 

 every society, namely, successful vegetation, successful de- 

 fense, and successful reproduction. 



Third: In their cooperative life the ants show a more care- 

 ful, elaborate, and sagacious provision for the future than 

 does any other group of animals, except some of the highest 

 races of mankind. This is seen in their methods of building 

 granaries or other store houses, of preparing and storing seeds, 

 of cultivating fungi, of storing honey, of keeping and feeding 

 aphids, of providing for the maturation and flight of queens, 

 and in their care of the young through successive stages of 

 growth. The details of the above are so well set forth in the 

 works of Huber, Lubbock, Forel, McCook, and WTieeler that 

 further amplification is unnecessary here. 



Fourth: In their cooperative effort for the welfare of the 

 entire colonial commonwealth, they subdue selfish efforts that 

 might result in the death of other members of the common- 

 wealth, and they show unflagging zeal in promoting the well- 

 being of it, and thus of their individual selves. This is the 

 practical outcome that the higher socialized races of men are 

 at present struggling to accomplish, and which is the avowed 

 aim of the purer and more advanced present-day socialism. 

 But, as all are aware, the results already achieved have been 

 very partial, and the perfected work is largely in the future. 



Against the above successful efforts are to be placed the 

 following retarding ones, that ants have gradually evolved 

 in their midst, and which have prevented an even more dom- 

 inant growth than they now exhibit. First: Owing to in- 

 creasing formation of protective subterranean dwellings, and 



