The Relation of Science and Religion.pdf - Online Christian Library

unfolding their legs and smoothing out theirwings."In the ant nest there is a singular distinctionof orders which prevents us speaking ofthe parent ants as doing all this work for theyoung. The great majority in every nest areneuters, not producing young; these are theworkers, and they are destitute of wings.The smaller numbers only are the males andfemales producing the young. The workers,shorn of wings, and entrusted with all thatis required in household and out-door duties,labor assiduously. These neuter ants haveoccasioned special perplexity to Mr. Darwinas bearing on the theory of evolution, a difficultywhich is seriously increased by the factthat in some cases they " differ from eachother, sometimes to an almost incredible degree,and are thus divided into two or eventhree castes," and these " do not colnmonlygraduate into each other," but are "as distinctfrom each other as any two species."*Without following Mr. Darwin through hisreasoning as to the adaptation of neuters fortheir task in life, it may be well to quote hiswords towards its close, where he says, "IOrigin of Species, 6th ed. p. 230.