232 

 CHAP. XII. 



Continuation of the Industry of Animals. 



E shall, in the next place, treat of the proceed- 

 ings of solitary animals. If they do not affect that- 

 extraordinary air of reflection and prudence, that bright- 

 ness of genius, and that appearance of policy and legis- 

 lation which we admire in sociable animals, they never- 

 theless attract our regard, either by their simplicity and 

 singularity, or their diversity and appropriation to one 

 common end, for the attaining of which they use the in- 

 genious and natural means. After having contemplated 

 the government, manners, and labours, of a republican 

 community, we may still find some pleasure in consider- 

 ing the life and occupations of a solitary one; thus 

 passing from the monuments of Rome to the cottage, of 

 a Robinson. Those works that are performed by the 

 sociable animals^ and which astonish us as much by their 

 size, as by the beauty of their disposition, result from 

 the concurrence of a number of individuals : they all 

 pass through various hands; some sketch them, others 

 bring them to a greater perfection, and a third sort 

 finish them. The works of solitary animals spring from 

 one head only ; and the same hand that begins them, 

 continues, finishes, and repairs them. Each individual 

 has his particular, talent and degree of skill, whereby he 

 provides for his own subsistence, and furnishes himself 

 with all necessaries. 



We will here confine ourselves to the proceedings re- 

 lative to the metamorphosis. This is an affair of great 



