The Life of the Bee 



almost invisible matter, as though it were 

 a fluid whereon depended the destiny of 

 man ? I hold, and exaggerate nothing, 

 that our interest herein is of the most con- 

 siderable,, The discovery of a sign of 

 true intellect outside ourselves procures 

 us something of the emotion Robinson 

 Crusoe felt when he saw the imprint of 

 a human foot on the sandy beach of his 

 island. We seem less solitary than we 

 had believed. And indeed, in our en- 

 deavour to understand the intellect of 

 the bees, we are studying in them that 

 which is most precious in our own sub- 

 stance : an atom of the extraordinary 

 matter which possesses, wherever it at- 

 tach itself, the magnificent power of 

 transfiguring blind necessity, of organ- 

 ising, embellishing, and multiplying life; 

 and, most striking of all, of holding in 

 suspense the obstinate force of death, 

 and the mighty, irresponsible wave that 



12 177 



