378 ORGANISATIONS. 



b. Royal body-guard. 



These kings and queens obviously vary in their status and 

 functions, as illustrated by the very different positions occu- 

 pied by 



1. The king of the quails, of vultures, of herrings 



(Houzeau, Watson). 



2. The king and queen of certain Termites (Buchner). 



3. Queen bees (Huber, Figuier) . 



The influence of the queen bee is in many respects a re- 

 markable one. She leads or directs her subjects (Huber) 

 just as other and male chiefs do their flocks or herds. Her 

 absence or sterility leads to anarchy in the populace, to a 

 general dissolution of society, marked by the loss of all 

 activity, physical and mental, by hopelessness, the want of 

 courage or spirit, the development of theft and rapine in 

 general terms, by utter demoralisation. Her disappearance, 

 too, causes general emotion and commotion, aimless running 

 about, idleness and apathy in short, a kind of mental de- 

 rangement for the time. The effect on her subjects is para- 

 lysing. Experimental excitement and calm, may be produced 

 at will by removing and replacing her. Joy and satisfac- 

 tion, moreover, are produced by the receipt of a new queen. 

 All this arises from the presence or absence of what Figuier 

 calls ' a moral tie.' Just as among male leaders, rival bee 

 queens contend for supremacy ; their fights are characterised 

 by great rage, animosity, fury or ferocity, are accompanied 

 by general agitation or tumult in the bee community, and 

 end in the reign of the victor (Huber). 



This government of bees by a queen is one of the most 

 striking instances among the lower animals of female supre- 

 macy. But it is not the only one. Figuier describes the 

 queen bee as president of a republic, with female vice-presi- 

 dents ; and there are also among bees and ants amazons, 

 female troops or soldiers (Westvvood). According to Combe 

 there are exceptional cases as in goats- where the leader 

 of a flock or herd is a female. 



Certain Termites, says Buchner, ' have a perfectly organ- 

 ised state, with king, queen,' and other ranks in society, and 

 an elaborately constructed building for their residence. ' In 



