INSECTS 



that the human mind can not grasp, except in their 

 ultimate analysis into first principles. Those who have 

 faith in the consistency of nature endeavor to push a 

 little farther into the great unknown knowable. 



There are a few things known about the termites that 

 help to explain some of the apparent mysteries concerning 

 them. For example, the members of a colony are for- 

 ever licking or nibbling at one another; the workers ap- 

 pear to be always cleaning the queen, and they are as- 

 siduous in stroking the young. These labial attentions, 

 or lip affections, moreover, are not unrewarded, for it 

 appears that each member of the colony exudes some 

 substance through its skin that is highly agreeable to 

 the other members. Furthermore, the termites all feed 

 one another with food material ejected from the alimen- 

 tary canal, sometimes from one end, sometimes from the 

 other. Each individual, therefore, is a triple source of 

 nourishment to his fellows — he has to offer exudates 

 from the skin, crop food from the mouth, and intestinal 

 food from the anus — and this mutual exchange of food 

 appears to form the basis for much of the attachment 

 that exists among the members of the colony. It accounts 

 for the maternal affections, the care of the queen and the 

 young by the workers, the brotherly love between the 

 workers and the soldiers. The golden rule of the termite 

 colony is "feed others as you would be fed by them." 



The termites, therefore, are social creatures because, 

 for physical reasons, no individual could live and be 

 happy away from his fellows. The same might be said 

 of us, though, of course, we like to believe that our social 

 instincts have not a purely physical basis. Be that as 

 it may, we must recognize that any kind of social tie 

 is but one of various possible means by which the benefits 

 of community life are insured to the members of the 

 community. 



The custom of food exchange in the termite colonies 

 can not be held to account by any means for all the things 



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