A Scientific Slaughterer 



himself beaten. The Cerceris' larder would 

 defy their reasoning-power. 



Let us then suppose an academy of ana- 

 tomists and physiologists; let us imagine a 

 congress at which the question is raised 

 among such men as Flourens,^ Magendie ^ 

 and Claude Bernard.^ If we want to obtain 

 both complete immobility of the victim and 

 also its preservation during a long period 

 without going bad, the simplest- and most 

 natural idea which comes to us is that of 

 tinned foods. Our congress would suggest 

 the use of some preserving liquid, just as the 

 famous Landes scientist did when he was con- 

 fronted with his Buprestes; they would at- 

 tribute exquisite antiseptic virtues to the 

 Wasp's poison-fluid; but these strange virtues 

 would still remain to be proved. And per- 

 haps the conclusion of that learned assembly, 



^Marie Jean Pierre Flourens (1794-1867), the cele- 

 brated French physiologist, appointed perpetual secre- 

 tary of the Academy of Science in 1833 and a member of 

 the French Academy. — Translator's Note. 



^Frangois Magendie (1783-1855), professor of anatomy 

 in the College de France, noted for his experiments on 

 the physiolog>' of the nerves. — Translator's Note. 



^Claude Bernard (1813-1878), another distinguished 

 French physiologist and perhaps the most famous repre- 

 sentative of experimental science in the nineteenth cen- 

 tury. — Translator's Note. 



45 



