ANTS AND THEIR HELPLESS CHILDREN. 299 
the whole the great guiding principle in ant -life 
appears to be devotion to the community, much more 
than to each other. With them the mother has no 
interest in her children after they are born, and the 
workers take care of all alike, so that no special 
ties of affection are formed ; and, while we admire 
the wonderful mechanism of ant-life, we must not 
expect to find in it that love and personal devotion 
which is developed in quite another branch of Life's 
children. 
We have travelled far since we started with the 
shapeless and sluggish Amceba, and have surely 
justified the statement with which we began, that by 
giving the prize of success to those who best fight 
the battle of existence, Life educates her children to 
fill their place in the world. 
Much as we admire the tiny lime-builders and 
their beautiful shells, we must confess that the slime- 
animal itself is a frail and helpless being, with but 
feeble enjoyment of life, and the first advance which 
we perceive in the sponges is one rather of architec- 
ture than of individual existence. But in the lasso- 
throwers we already begin to detect the rudiments 
of those senses which afterwards become so keen ; 
the nerves, eyes, and ears of the jelly-fish enable it 
at least to begin to appreciate the world around it 
and to live a free and independent life. In the star- 
fish and his companions we advance still further. 
Here is movement by walking as well as by swim- 
ming, a keen eye keeps a look-out on all things 
around, a battery of nerves, complicated muscles, 
and other parts give a far more distinct individuality 
14 
