CHAPTER X 



MINOTAURUS TYPHŒUS 



To describe the insect that forms the subject of this 

 chapter, scientific nomenclature joins two formidable 

 names : that of the Minotaur, Minos' bull fed on human 

 flesh in the crypts of the Cretan labyrinth ; and that of 

 Typhœus, one of the giants, sons of Terra, who tried to 

 scale the heavens. Thanks to the clue of thread which 

 he received from Minos' daughter Ariadne, Theseus the 

 Athenian found the Minotaur, slew him and made his 

 escape, safe and sound, after delivering his country for 

 ever from the dreadful tribute destined for the monster's 

 food. 



Typhœus, struck by a thunderbolt on his heaped-up 

 mountains, was hurled under Mount Etna. He is there 

 still. His breath is the smoke of the volcano. When 

 he coughs, he spits out streams of lava ; when he shifts 

 his position from one shoulder to the other, he puts Sicily 

 aflutter ; he shakes her with an earthquake. 



It is not unpleasant to find an echo of these old fables 

 in the history of animals. Mythological denominations, 

 so resonant and pleasing to the ear, entail no incon- 

 sistencies with reality, a fault that is not always avoided 

 by the terms compiled wholly of data gathered from the 

 lexicon. When vague analogies, in addition, connect 

 the fabled with the historical, then surnames and fore- 



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