BOOK XI. in. 9-iv. 12 



or flesh, andnot even a fragile rind,such as somesea Excepnmiai 

 creatures have, nor anything that can properly be fo^^^^af 

 termed a skin, but a substanc'e of a nature inter- stmcture ,• 

 mediate between all of these, as it were dried ^p '"^"*<^ ""^^ '*• 

 softer in the sinew but harder or rather more durable 

 in all the other parts. And this is all that they 

 possess, and nothing else in addition ; they have 

 no internal organs except, in the case of quite a 

 few, a twisted intestine. Consequently when torn 

 asunder they display a remarkable tenacity of Hfe, 

 and the separate parts go on throbbing, because 

 whatever their vital principle is it certainly does 

 not reside in particular members but in the body as 

 a whoie — least of all in the head, and this alone 

 does not move unless it has been torn ofF -with the 

 breast. No other kind of creature has a greater 

 number of feet, and of this species the ones that 

 have more feet live longer when torn asunder, as we 

 see in the case of the multipede. But they possess 

 eyes, and also of the other senses touch and taste, 

 and some have smell as well, and a few hearing also. 



IV. But among all of these species the chief place The bee the 

 belongs to the bees,« and this rightly is the species fpeciZ'^fts 

 chiefly admired, because they alone of this genus ind-ustrywui 

 have been created for the sake of man. They collect organuation. 

 honey, that sweetest and most refined and most 

 health-giving of juices, they model combs and wax 

 that serves a thousand practical purposes, they endure 

 toil, they construct works, they have a government 

 and individual enterprises and collective leaders, 

 and, a thing that must occasion most surprise, they 

 have a system of manners that outstrips that of all 

 the other animals, although they belong neither to 

 the domesticated nor to the wild class. Nature is 



439 



