ANALYSIS OF SUBJECTS. 
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BOOK THE THIRD. —COMMUNITIES OF INSECTS. 
CHAPTER I.-THE TERMITES, OR WHITE ANTS. 
The habitations of the termites, erroneously called White Ants, described, both externally 
and internally, . 235, 236 
A wonderful degree of skill shown in the erection of the great dome, .237 
Yet the builders labour under specially difficult circumstances, .238 
Their queen’s fecundity; her offspring are tenderly treated, .239 
Their numbers would be a terror to man, were they not checked by many enemies, ... 240 
An illustration is given of their terrible ravages,.241 
CHAPTER II.—THE ANTS :—THEIR DOMESTIC ECONOMY—THEIR NUPTIALS. 
Value of the ants as purifying and cleansing agents, 
An incident at Barbadoes, 
The carpenter-ants, and their ingenuity, described, . 
Singular affection which they display for the young, . 
They watch over them with incessant vigilance ; their mode of intercommunication, 
A picture is given of the economy of an ant-hill,. 
In their labours the ants solve numerous problems by sheer intuition, . 
Their nuptials described as an idyllic poem, . 
What remained in the morning, . 
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CHAPTER III.—THE ANTS : THEIR FLOCKS AND THEIR SLAVES. 
The writer’s pain at discovering among the ants the existence of slavery, 
Considerations which induced him to continue his studies, . 
He finds that the ants keep their “ herds of cattle,” 
And discovers a reason for their apparent encouragement of slavery, 
Mixed communities of ants ; workers and warriors, 
The workers are in reality the masters, though they seem to be slaves, 
A campaign described; red against black,. 
Ant-societies regulated on the principle of division of labour, ... 
Their species undergo modifications in special circumstances, . 
The influence of intellect over brute force exemplified, ... 
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CHAPTER IV.—THE ANTS : CIVIL WAR—EXTERMINATION OF THE COMMUNITY. 
It is the punishment of the tyrant that he cannot readily set free his captive, .271 
The caged nightingale, and the clod of earth, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 272 
This clod proves to contain a republic of carpenter-ants, ... ... ... ... ... 272 
An effort is made to found a new community ; difficulties in the way, .273 
An encounter between the carpenter-ants and some mason-ants, ... ... ... ... 274 
In which the victory is on the side of the Little,. ... 275 
Who carry off the young of the conquered, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 276 
A digression comments on the helplessness of the nymph, or larva, ... ... ... ... 277 
And points out its exceeding suffering in the hands of a victorious enemy, ... ... ... 278 
The writer is shocked by the relentless cruelty of the conquerors, .279 
Who have left but one poor fugitive to mourn the death of his companions, ... ... 2S0 
CHAPTER V.—THE WASPS : THEIR FURY OF IMPROVISATION. 
Sensation caused by the intrusion of a wasp, . 
A panegyric on a much-abused insect, . . 
Excessive industry of the wasp, . 
It works, first, as a paper manufacturer ; and next, as a mason, . 
It builds its city with curious forethought and ingenuity, . 
The mother-wasp, a remarkable example of self-sacrifice, . 
Wasps distinguished by their patriotic enthusiasm, . 
At the approach of winter they dissolve the commonwealth, . 
CHAPTER VI.—“THE BEES” OF VIRGIL. 
The Virgilian fable of Aristaeus misunderstood,. 
Intended by the poet as a parable of immortality, . 
The writer was accidentally led to an understanding of its true significance, 
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