The Life of the Bee 
gained from their study ; for this world 
being more densely peopled and more 
complex than others, certain special desires 
of nature are often more palpably revealed 
to us there; and she may even at times 
be detected in the midst of experiments 
we might almost be warranted in regard- 
ing as incomplete. She has one. great and 
general desire, for instance, that she dis- 
plays on all sides; the amelioration of 
each species through the triumph of the 
stronger. This struggle, as a rule, is 
most carefully organised. The hecatomb 
of the weak is enormous, but that matters 
little so long as the victors’ reward be 
effectual and certain. But there are cases 
when one might almost imagine that na- 
ture had not had time enough to disen- 
tangle her combinations; cases where 
reward is impossible, and the fate of the 
victor no less disastrous than that of the 
vanquished. And of such, selecting an 
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