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. 
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