The Life of the Bee 



means of ascertaining whether it be not- 

 withstanding the efforts of the superior 

 will, or independently of these, or lastly 

 because of these, that a species has been 

 able to survive. 



All we can say is that such a species 

 exists, and that, on this point, therefore, 

 nature would seem to be right. But who 

 shall tell us how many others that we 

 have not known have fallen victim to her 

 restless and forgetful intellect ? Beyond 

 this, we can recognise only the surprising 

 and occasionally hostile forms that the 

 extraordinary fluid we call life assumes, 

 in utter unconsciousness sometimes, at 

 others with a kind of consciousness : the 

 fluid which animates us equally with all 

 the rest, which produces the very thoughts 

 that judge it, and the feeble voice that 

 attempts to tell its story. 



392 



