FABRE'S BOOK OF INSECTS 



within some empty granary, she makes, out of fragments 

 of wood, a very brittle kind of striped yellow cardboard. 

 Her nest is wrapped round with many layers of this 

 substance, laid on in the form of broad convex scales 

 which are welded to one another. Between them are 

 wide intervals in which air is held motionless. 



The Wasp, then, often acts in accordance with the 

 laws of physics and geometry. She employs air, a non- 

 conductor of heat, to keep her home warm; she made 

 blankets before man thought of it; she builds the outer 

 walls of the nest in the shape that gives her the largest 

 amount 'of room in the smallest wrapper; and in the 

 form of her cell, too, she economises space and material. 



And yet, clever as these wonderful architects are, they 

 amaze us by their stupidity in the face of the smallest 

 difficulty. On the one hand their instincts teach them 

 to behave like men of science; but on the other it is plain 

 that they are entirely without the power ot reflection. 

 I have convinced myself of this fact by various experi- 

 ments. 



The Common Wasp has chanced to set up house be- 

 side one of the walks in my enclosure, which enables 

 me to experiment with a bell-glass. In the open fields 

 I could not use this appliance, because the boys of the 

 country-side would soon smash it. One night, when all 

 was dark and the Wasps had gone home, I placed the 



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