THE EUMENES 207 



without penetrating to the inside, where the wall must 

 remain smooth for the sake of the larva's comfort. If 

 necessary, a little plaster is added, to tone down the inner 

 protuberances. The solidly embedded stonework alter- 

 nates with the pure mortarwork, of which each fresh 

 course receives its facing of tiny encrusted pebbles. As 

 the edifice is raised, the builder slopes the construction 

 a little towards the center and fashions the curve which 

 will give the spherical shape. We employ arched cen- 

 terings to support the masonry of a dome while building: 

 the Eumenes, more daring than we, erects her cupola 

 without any scaffolding. 



A round orifice is contrived at the summit; and, on 

 this orifice, rises a funneled mouthpiece built of pure 

 cement. It might be the graceful neck of some Etruscan 

 vase. When the cell is victualed and the egg laid, 

 this mouthpiece is closed with a cement plug; and in 

 this plug is set a little pebble, one alone, no more: 

 the ritual never varies. This work of rustic architecture 

 has naught to fear from the inclemency of the weather; 

 it does not yield to the pressure of the fingers ; it resists 

 the knife that attempts to remove it without breaking 

 it. Its nipple shape and the bits of gravel wherewith 

 it bristles all over the outside remind one of certain 

 cromlechs of olden time, of certain tumuli whose domes 

 are strewn with Cyclopean stones. 



Such is the appearance of the edifice when the cell 

 stands alone; but the Hymenopteron nearly always 

 fixes other domes against her first, to the number of 

 five, six, or more. This shortens the labor by allowing 



