THE PERFECT SOCIALISM 79 



carry on wars, the termite soldier is a guard to the nest 

 rather than an aggressive foe. 



Among bees and ants the soldiers are workers imbued 

 with the spirit of warriors ; as they are all females they 

 may well be called Amazons. Here the industrial ener- 

 gies of the peaceful citizen are changed into those of a 

 fighting militia under provocations most human. In 

 the history of all the battles of earth we have no 

 records of more reckless bravery or more undaunted 

 facing of death than we find in the battles of bees and 

 ants. The recklessness of the individual for her own 

 life is shown by the fact that a bee, ant, or wasp, 

 will attack a man or a horse, single-handed, without a 

 moment's hesitation. 



So perfect is socialism among ants that even slavery 

 is robbed of some of its evils. The question may well 

 be asked why slavery should be needed when once a 

 perfect socialism is established. This is answered by the 

 fact that selfishness is in this case characteristic of the 

 community rather than the individual. Slaves are of 

 great economic importance to an ant colony, although 

 the direct benefit to any individual in the ant-hill is not 

 obvious. 



When a slave-making colony sets out on an expedi- 

 tion for capturing slaves, the warriors march in solid 

 column to the nests of the victims and throw them- 



