266 
THREE CLASSES OF THE POPULATION. 
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Let us now endeavour to understand this shocking and hideous 
€l fact. It is peculiar to certain species; it is a 
particular incident, an exceptional case, yet 
related on the whole to a general law of the 
life of the ants. Their societies are founded 
on the principle of the division of labour , 
and the speciality of functions. The ant¬ 
hill, in its normal state, comprehends, as we 
know, three classes :— 
1st. The great multitude, composed of 
laborious virgins, who confine themselves to 
the love of the children of the common¬ 
wealth, and perform all the work of the com¬ 
munity ; 
2nd. The fecund females, feeble, soft, and 
unintelligent; and, 
3rd. Some little shrivelled males, who are 
born only to die. 
The first class is, in truth and reality, 
the people. But in this people you find two 
industrial divisions, two great bodies of 
workmen. The one executes all the more 
arduous tasks, such as the transportation 
of heavy burdens, and the far and perilous 
hunt after provisions,—and, at need, carry on 
war. The other, nearly always at home, re¬ 
ceives the materials, superintends the domes¬ 
tic economy, and undertakes the principal 
duty of the republic,—the education of the 
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The two corporations, that of the pur¬ 
veyors and warriors,—that of the nurses and 
tutors,—are, in every tribe, of unequal size, 
but identical in species, colour, and organization. 
Between the big warriors and. the little industrials the moral 
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