FABRE'S BOOK OF INSECTS 



method of attack, of which I have seen no other example 

 anywhere. 



Before he begins to feed on his victim he gives it an 

 anaesthetic — he makes it unconscious, as a person is 

 made unconscious with chloroform before a surgical 

 operation. His food, as a rule, is a certain small Snail 

 hardly the size of a cherry, which collects in clusters 

 during the hot weather, on the stiff stubble and other 

 dry stalks by the roadside, and there remains motion- 

 less, in profound meditation, throughout the scorching 

 summer days. In some such place as this I have often 

 seen the Glow-worm feasting on his unconscious prey, 

 which he had just paralysed on its shaky support. 



But he frequents other places too. At the edge of 

 cool, damp ditches, where the vegetation is varied, 

 many Snails are to be found; and in such spots as these 

 the Glow-worm can kill his victim on the ground. I 

 can reproduce these conditions at home, and can there 

 follow the operator's performance down to the smallest 

 detail. 



I will try to describe the strange sight. I place a 

 little grass in a wide glass jar. In this I install a few 

 Glow-worms and a supply of Snails of a suitable size, 

 neither too large nor too small. One must be patient 

 and wait, and above all keep a careful watch, for the 

 events take place unexpectedly and do not last long. 



[56] 



