61 THE KEPORT OF THE No. 36 



lows on hypothesis; the tlieoretical rubbish-heap accumulates; and truth ever 

 eludes us. To know how not to know might well be the last word of wisdom." 



The limited time at mj^ disposal makes it impossible for me to show ade- 

 quately how Fabre treats his themes. I venture, however, even at the risk of 

 sacrificing the beauty, delicacy and precision of his descriptions, to make a few 

 excerpts relating to the habits of a few forms he discusses. 



First, regarding the Praying Mantis. Fabre describes minutely how it cap- 

 tures its prey, the mating process, and the making of its nest. I shall quote a 

 few paragraphs of his description of its cannibalistic courtship. After mating, 

 " the two finally separate, but they are soon to be made one flesh in a much more 

 intimate fashion. If the poor lover is loved by his mistress as the giver of fertility, 

 she also loves him as the choicest of game. During the day, or at latest on the 

 morrow, he is seized by his companion, who first gnaws through the back of his 

 neck, according to use and wont, and then methodically devours him, mouthful by 

 mouthful leaving only the wings. Here we have no case of jealousy, but simply a 

 depraved taste. I had the curiosity to wonder how a second male would be re- 

 ceived by a newly fecundated female. The result of my inquiry was scandalous. 

 The Mantis in only too many cases is never sated with embraces and conjugal 

 feasts. After a rest, of variable duration, whether the eggs have been laid or 

 not, a second male is welcomed and devoured like the first. A third succeeds him, 

 does his duty, and affords yet another meal. A fourth suffers a like fate. In the 

 course of two weeks I have seen the same Mantis treat seven husbands in this 

 fashion. She admitted all to her embraces, and all paid for the nuptial ecstasy 

 with their lives.'" 



Here is his description of a massacre of Pine-caterpillars by Golden Gardeners 

 (Carahus miratiis) : " In a spacious, glazed insectorium I have twenty-five Carabi 

 aurati. At present they are motionless, lying beneath a piece of board which I 

 gave them for shelter. Their bellies cooled by the sand, their backs warmed by 

 the board, which is visited by the sun, they slumber and digest their food. By 

 good luck I chance upon a procession of pine-caterpillars, in process of 'descending 

 from their tree in search of a spot suitable for burial, the prelude to the phase of 

 the subterranean chrysalis. Here is an excellent flock for the slaughter-house of 

 the Carabi. I capture them and place them in the insectorium. The procession 

 is quickly reformed; the caterpillars, to the number of perhaps a hundred and 

 fifty, move forward in an undulating line. They pass near the piece of board, one 

 following the other like the pigs at Chicago. The moment is propitious. I cry 

 Havoc! and let loose the dogs of war; that is to say, I remove the plank. The 

 sleepers immediately awake, scenting the abundant prey. One of them runs for- 

 ward; three, four, follow; the whole assembly is aroused; those who are buried 

 -emerge; the whole band of cut-throats falls upon the passing flock. It is a sight 

 never to be forgotten. The mandibles of the beetles are at work in all directions; 

 the procession is attacked in the van, in the rear, in the centre; the victims are 

 wounded on the back or the belly at random. The furry skins are gaping with 

 wounds; their contents escape in knots of entrails, bright green with their ali- 

 ment, the needles of the pine trees; the caterpillars writhe, struggling with loop- 

 like movements, gripping the sand with their feet, dribbling and gnashing their 

 mandibles. Those as 3'et unwounded are digging desperately in the attempt to take 

 refuge underground. Not one succeeds. They are scarcely half-buried before 

 some beetle runs to them and destroys them by an eviscerating wound." 



Again, Fabre makes these observations regarding eo'S'-laying in the case of the 



