116 A NEW THEORY OF EVOLUTION. 



of the different races, and these are more 

 characteristic than differences in their organ- 

 isation. 



The family of the Bee comprises over 4500 

 distinct races, and as each represents a stage 

 in development, the chain of evolution from 

 the primitive to the hive-bee is composed of 

 over 4500 links. It may therefore be ac- 

 cepted as practically complete. Now, every 

 link in this chain is so different from its 

 fellows that, as we see, naturalists are able 

 to describe and classify each link. The races, 

 therefore, do not blend into each other by 

 imperceptible gradations, as would be the 

 case if they were the outcome of small differ- 

 ences gradually accumulated ; neither are 

 there wide gaps in the chain, as there should 

 be if the struggle for existence eliminated the 

 less fully equipped intermediaries. Moreover, 

 some of the specific variations clearly demon- 

 strate that they do not come by an accumu- 

 lative process ; for some new genera have 

 characteristics that are not found in the 

 main line of evolution, either before or 

 after these new genera appeared. These 

 variations were, therefore, neither inherited 

 from the primitive bee nor transmitted to 

 the hive-bee. 



This instructive feature in the evolution of 



