On the Threshold of the Hive 
which, of all the inhabitants of this globe, 
possess the highest degree of intellect after 
that of man. The aim of nature is mani- 
festly the improvement of the race ; but no 
less manifest is her inability, or refusal, to 
obtain such improvement except at the cost 
of the liberty, the rights and the happiness 
of the individual. In proportion as a society 
organises itself, and rises in the scale, so does 
a shrinkage enter the private life of each one 
of its members. Where there is progress, it 
is the result only of a more and more com- 
plete sacrifice of the individual to the general 
interest. Each one is compelled first of all 
to renounce his vices, which are acts of in- 
dependence. For instance, at the last stage 
but one of apiarian civilisation, we find the 
humble-bees, which are like our cannibals. 
The adult workers are incessantly hovering 
around the eggs which they seek to devour, 
and the mother has to display the utmost 
stubbornness in their defence. Then having | 
freed himself from his most dangerous vices, 
each individual has to acquire a certain 
number of more and more painful virtues. 
Among the humble-bees, for instance, the 
27 
