66 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO 11. 



" Hence, when the Morus in Italia's lands 

 To spring's warm beam its timid leaf expands; 

 The Silk- Worm broods in countless tribes above 

 Crop the green treasure, uninform'd of love; 

 Erewhile the changeful worm with circling head 

 Weaves the nice curtains of his silken bed; 

 Web within web involves his larva form, 

 Alike secured from sunshine and from storm; 300 

 For twelve long days He dreams of blossom'd groves, 

 Untasted honey, and ideal loves; 



Untasted honey, 1. 302. The numerous moths and butterflies seem 

 to pass from a reptile leaf-eating state, and to acquire Avings to flit in 

 air, with a proboscis to gain honey for their food along with their 

 organs of reproduction, solely for the purpose of propagating their 

 species by sexual intercourse, as they die when that is completed. 

 By the use of their wings they have access to each other on different 

 branches or on different vegetables, and by living upon honey pro- 

 bably acquire a higher degree of animation, and thus seem to resem- 

 ble the anthers of flowers, which probably are supported by honey 

 only, and thence acquire greater sensibility; see Note on Vallisneria, 

 1. 280 of this Canto. 



A naturalist, who had studied this subject, thought it not impossi- 

 ble that the first insects were the anthers and stigmas of flowers, 

 which had by some means loosened themselves from their parent 

 plant, like the male flowers of vallisneria, and that other insects in 

 process of time had been formed from these, some acquiring wings, 



