THE CABBAGE-CATERPILLAR 315 



sive weapon, would even lead me to believe that the grub 

 is incapable of perforating the chrysalid's covering. 



This proved error makes me doubt the other propo- 

 sition, though logical, after all, and agreeing with the 

 methods followed by a host of parasites. No matter: 

 my faith in what I read in print is of the slightest; I 

 prefer to go straight to facts. Before making a state- 

 ment of any kind, I want to see, what I call seeing. It 

 is a slower and more laborious process; but it is certainly 

 much safer. 



I will not undertake to lie in wait for what takes 

 place on the cabbages in the garden; that method is 

 too uncertain and besides does not lend itself to precise 

 observation. As I have in hand the necessary materials, 

 to wit, my collection of tubes swarming with the parasites 

 newly hatched into the adult form, I will operate on 

 the little table in my animals' laboratory. A jar with 

 a capacity of about a liter * in placed on the table, with 

 the bottom turned towards the window in the sun. I 

 put into it a cabbage leaf covered with caterpillars, some- 

 times fudly developed, sometimes half-way, sometimes 

 just out of the egg. A strip of honeyed paper will serve 

 the Microgaster as a dining room, if the experiment is 

 destined to take some time. Lastly, by the method of 

 transfer which I described above, I send the inmates of 

 one of my tubes into the apparatus. Once the jar is 

 closed, there is nothing left to do but to let things take 

 their course and to keep an assiduous watch, for days 



1 About i}i pints, or .22 gaWon.^^ Translator's Note. 



