Preface 



and that disk, without further measurement, 

 is of the right size to fit the pot. Let whoso 

 will explain this geometry, which in my 

 opinion is inexplicable, even when we allow 

 for memory begotten of touch and sight.' 



Let us add that the author has calculated 

 that, to form the cells of a kindred Mega- 

 chile, the Silky Megachile, exactly 1,064 of 

 these ellipses and disks would be required; 

 and they must all be collected and shaped in 

 the course of an existence that lasts a few 

 weeks. 



8 



Who would imagine that the Pentatomida, 

 on the other hand, the poor and evil-smelling 

 bug of the woods, has invented a really ex- 

 traordinary apparatus wherewith to leave the 

 egg? And first let us state that this egg is 

 a marvellous little box of snowy whiteness, 

 which our author thus describes: 



'The microscope discovers a surface en- 

 graved with dents similar to those of a 

 thimble and arranged with exquisite sym- 

 metry. At the top and bottom of the cylin- 



23 



