Introduction XX1 
they differ from mankind in having successfully established 
communism. At the present day all the social hymen- 
optera possess a unique interest on account of their working- 
order or neuters. These, as is well known, are females 
whose normal development has been checked. Are we to 
assume that “‘ once upon a time ’”’ a woman’s rights move- 
ment sprang up in bee-hives and ant-hills which ended in 
reducing the males to a very unimportant position and in 
limiting the number of the fully developed females? Are 
we to expect that the ‘‘strong-minded’”’ women arising 
among us are the forerunners of a “‘ neuter’ order and the 
heralds of a corresponding change in human society ? 
“It is full of theories,” says the author, writing of his 
book; modestly adding, ‘‘I trust not unsupported by 
facts.’”” And so naturally does he dovetail the two together 
that the theories often seem portions of the facts. On all 
kinds of subjects suggestive reasons are proposed:—why 
the scarlet-runners which flowered so profusely in his 
garden never produced a single pod; why the banana and 
sugar-cane are probably not indigenous to America; why 
gold veins grow poorer as they descend into the earth; why 
whirlwinds rotate in opposite directions in the two hemi- 
spheres; why the earthenware vessels of the Indians are 
rounded at the bottom and require to be placed in a little 
stand—on all the varied matters that come under his 
observant eyes he has something interesting to say. You 
learn how the natives obtain sugar, palm-wine, and rubber; 
what is the use of the toucan’s huge beak, and how plants 
secure the fertilisation of their flowers. You watch the 
tricks of the monkey, the humming-bird’s courtship, the 
lying in wait of the alligator, and all the ceaseless activity 
of the forest—that forest so monotonous in its general 
features, but fascinating beyond measure when the varied 
life-histories working out within it are realised—and you 
share in the keen joy of the naturalist who has written with 
such simple eloquence of the beauty, the wonder, and the 
mystery of the natural world. 
A,B: 
