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thousands and millions of ages that it took to come to its present 

 state. You may suggest that it must have been created a spider to be 

 able to act as a spider, but that does not fit in with my notions. 



I believe that originally the ' fertile males and females of the same 

 community transmitted to their fertile offspring a tendency to produce 

 sterile members." How there could have been a community of the 

 kind we now see without any sterile members of it, all being fertile, 

 I do not explain. You may call my theory a mere fable and idle 

 dream, but in my own opinion it is worthy of Aristotle himself. 



I believe that while some of the fertile females of the community 

 were transforming themselves or their offspring into sterile members 

 for the benefit of a future society which did not then exist, some one 

 female was acting in the opposite direction, for the production of a 

 mother general of the whole hive ; in other words, that their opposite 

 instincts were "coming into play" at one and the same time, in one 

 and the same community. You can, no doubt, at once see the 

 probability of it just as I do that, in fact, sterility came from fertility, 

 sterile grandchildren from fertile parents and grandparents, and, rice 

 rersa, a still more fertile queen from the same source. This is one of 

 the ways in which I prove my theory. 



I believe, as I said, that a " slight modification in instinct 

 * * * * has been advantageous to the community." I cannot deny 

 that this is, in fact, to beg the whole question, a " change of instinct " 

 being only an idea suitable to a fairy tale, but by me thought as easy 

 a thing as for one to open and shut a book. How can I doubt, since 

 it suits my theory, that at the proper moment " certain members of 

 the community " foresaw the benefit to it of sterility, and were so very 

 accommodating and obliging as to agree to have sterile grandchildren 

 all but some one who remained fertile to the admiration and loyalty 

 of the rest of the society. 



I believe in, the " long continued selection of the fertile parents," 

 but who they were selected by I do not say, beyond that it came to 

 pass in the sequence of events. It is thus I make words the factors 

 of my system. 



I believe that the whole of the polity of the honey bee has come 

 to pass out of nothing at all of the kind, although the figure of it is 

 to be seen in Old Egypt exactly the same as it is to be seen now. 

 But it must be as I say. Sic colo. 



I believe that " if the Mexican bee had made its spheres at some 

 given distance from each other," and " if she had made them of equal 

 sizes," and if she had " arranged them symmetrically," and if she had 

 made them " in a double layer," then the comb would " probably" have 

 been as perfect as the comb of the hive-bee. All this, " if we could 

 slightly modify the instincts already possessed" by the Mexican bee. 

 Then "we muxt Hujyttw her to make her cells truly spherical and of 

 equal sizes ;" we must suppose her " to arrange her cells in level layers ;" 

 " we must suppose that she can somehow accurately judge as to what 

 distance to stand from her fellow- labourers ;" and " we have further to 

 suppose," "but this is no difficulty" (to me), that she can "prolong 

 the hexagon to any length requisite" (only five suppositions, a mere 

 trifle in such a book as mine), and then you will see what you shall 

 see. Talk about Ovid and his metamorphoses, " nauci. rnuci, jnli, 

 nihilo (estinw." You tell me that all this reminds you of Mr. Thornhill, 

 in the " Vicar of Wakefield," and his '' Hence I shall proceed to observe 

 that the concatenation of self-existences, proceeding in a reciprocal 

 duplicate ratio, etc., etc." 



You may tell me what you like, but facts cannot alter fancies, can 

 they? Answer me that question, if you can. You say that if I can 



