The Life of the Caterpillar 



will challenge one another for the possession 

 of the coveted bride, it is not a serious strug- 

 gle among these easy-going ones, but still it 

 presents a faint picture of those mortal affrays 

 which the mating so often produces. Love 

 rules the world by battle; it too is a hotbed of 

 competition. 



The_caterpillar, being almost sexless, is in- 



jifferent to amorous instincts. This is the 

 first condition for living pacifically in com- 

 mon. But it is not enough. The perfect 

 concord of the community demands among all 

 its members an equal division of strength and 

 talent, of taste and capacity for work. This 

 condition, which perhaps is the most import- 

 ant of all, is fulfilled preeminently. If there 

 were hundreds, if there w^?e A thousands of 

 them in the same nest, there Wfculd be no dif- 

 ference between any of thefffi 



They are all the same size and equally 



^stron{y;~a.ll wear the sarrie^ "(Tress ; all possess 

 the same gift for spinning; and all with equal 

 7.63.1 expend the contents, of their silk-glands 



^or the general welfare. No one~~!cfles, no 

 one lounges^llong when there is work to be 

 done. With no other stimulus than the sat- 

 isfaction of doing their duty, every evening, 



54 



