68 The Book of Bugs. 



a proposition as it appears to be. I have some sort of 

 pride in the human race, and I hate to give right up that 

 we are a poor lot without putting up my hands and mak- 

 ing a few passes. When I was a boy, I wondered how it 

 could be that a one-pound weight and a ten-pound weight, 

 if let fall together from a height, would reach the ground 

 at the same time. It stood to reason that the attraction 

 of gravitation would be ten times as great on the big 

 weight as on the little one. I could not see why it did not 

 fall ten times faster. It would be nice if I could tell you 

 that I figured the thing out by myself, but that would be 

 a wicked story, told with intent to deceive. A very good 

 friend of mine, instructor in chemistry, to whom I went 

 with my trouble, said, The attraction of gravitation is 

 ten times as great, yes. But how much more has it to 

 pull ? ' Ah, there was the point. Now let me tell you 

 that that one thing taught me more than many books. In 

 abstract reasoning, who can be sure that he has 

 gathered together all the factors of the problem into one 

 bundle? But the experiment, will prove whether or not 

 he has. 



There is many an argument that looks sound that 

 experimentation speedily puts a hole into. Beware 

 the theory that fits too well. I suppose you knew all 

 that, though, about the greater attraction having more to 

 pull. Perhaps you knew, too, that if the flea raises its 

 mass against its weight through one foot it will be doing 

 no more than what a man does when he raises his mass 

 against his weight through one foot. The flea has none 

 the best of us, I think. 



There is another way of looking at it. Plateau has 

 made some interesting experiments as to the comparative 

 strength of insects. He lined a narrow groove with 

 cloth, so that the insect could get a footing. He attached 



