154 THE LIFE AND LOVE OF THE INSECT 



The Scoliae have taught me no more than I have said, 

 for lack of subjects belonging to other species. No 

 matter : the results obtained constitute, to my mind, no 

 small triumph. After seeing the Scoliae at work, I said 

 to myself, guided merely by the anatomical structure of 

 the victims, that the grubs of Cetonia, of Anoxia, of 

 Oryctes must be paralyzed with a single prick of the 

 sting ; I even specified the point at which the dagger 

 had to strike, a central point in the immediate neighbour- 

 hood of the fore-legs. Of the three kinds of sacrificers, 

 two allowed me to be present at their surgical operation, 

 which the third, I am certain, will not contradict. In 

 both cases, a single blow of the lancet ; in both cases, an 

 inoculation with the poison at the place settled in advance. 

 No calculator in an observatory could show greater 

 accuracy in foretelling the position of his planet. An idea 

 may be considered proved when it attains this mathe- 

 matical anticipation of the future, this positive know- 

 ledge of the unknown. When will the extollers of chance 

 achieve a like success ? Order calls for order ; and chance 

 has no rule. 



