THE FIRST PAPER-MAKER 149 



opposite principle is so clearly true the queen or 

 female is so much more important a person in the 

 complex community, and so much more in evi- 

 dence than the drone or male that I shall offer 

 no apology here for setting her history before you 

 first, and giving it precedence over that of her 

 vastly inferior husband. Place aux dames is in this 

 instance no question of mere external chivalrous 

 courtesy ; it expresses the simple truth of -nature, 

 that, in wasp life, the grey mare is the better 

 horse, and bears acknowledged rule in her own 

 city household. Not only so, but painful as it 

 may sound to my men readers, and insulting to 

 our boasted masculine superiority, the neuter in 

 this case ranks second to the feminine ; for the 

 worker wasps, which are practically sexless, being 

 abortive females, are far more valuable members 

 of the community than their almost useless fathers 

 and brothers. I call them neuter, because they 

 are so to all intents and purposes : though for 

 some unknown reason that seemingly harmless 

 word acts upon most entomologists like a red rag 

 on the proverbial bull. They will allow you to 

 describe the abortive female as a worker only. 



In No. i, therefore, I give an illustration of a 

 queen wasp ; together with figures of her husband 

 and of her unmarriageable daughter. The queen 

 or mother wasp is much the largest of the three ; 

 and you will understand that she needs to be so, 

 when you come to learn how much she has to do, 

 how many eggs she has to lay ; and how, unaided, 

 this brave foundress of a family not only builds a city 



