The Glow-Worm and Other Beetles 



Yet the recollection occurs to me of the 

 Scorpion's suicide, sworn to by some, denied 

 by others. What truth is there in the story 

 of the Scorpion who, surrounded by a circle 

 of fire, puts an end to his suffering by stab- 

 bing himself with his poisoned sting? Let 

 us see for ourselves: 



Circumstances favour me. I am at this 

 moment rearing, in large earthen pans, with 

 a bed of sand and with potsherds for shel- 

 ter, a hideous menagerie which hardly comes 

 up to my expectations as regards the study 

 of morals.^ I will profit by it in another 

 way. It consists of some twenty-four speci- 

 mens of Buthus occitanus, the large White 

 Scorpion of the south of France. The 

 odious animal abounds, always isolated, un- 

 der the flat stones of the neighbouring hills, 

 in the sandy spots which enjoy the most sun- 

 light. It has a detestable reputation. 



On the effects of its sting I personally have 

 nothing to say, having always avoided, by a 

 little caution, the danger to which my rela- 

 tions with the formidable captives in my 

 study might have exposed me. Knowing 

 nothing of it myself, I get people to tell me 



1 For the habits of the White or Languedocian Scorp- 

 ion, cf. The Life and Love of the Insect: chaps, xvii. and 

 xviii. — Translator's Note. 



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