EGGS, &c. OF ANTS. fr 93 
labouring ants produce eggs, and have 
constantly found the approach of the male 
attended with the sacrifice of theirlives. 
But with what view does nature permitas 
many sterile females among ants as among 
wasps and bees ? Isit notin order to in- 
crease the number of individuals, in the 
same family, without producing a popula- 
tion that wouldbe more than proportioned 
to it ? — In reserving a certain number of 
females for conception, she has ap- 
pointed others to take care of the infant 
generation. She has even deprived the 
latter of the faculty of flying; but in re- 
turn for this, they enjoy a sweet recom- 
pense, either (as we have no reason to 
doubt) by their being inspired for their 
charge with the sentiments of mothers for 
their young, or by their having an unli- 
mited power over the other orders of the 
society in which they live ; a truth which 
| hope to establish in the course of this 
work, and which differs widely from the 
received opinion, that these republics 
are governed by several chiefs. 
