The Mason-Wasps 



The Insect's Herodotus gives us a host of 

 particulars, but says nothing, absolutely 

 nothing, about the hanging egg. I consult 

 Leon Dufour,^ who treats subjects of 

 this kind with his usual raciness : he has seen 

 the egg; he describes it; but of the suspen- 

 sion-thread not a word. I consult Lepele- 

 tier,^ Audouin,^ Blanchard:^ they are abso- 

 lutely silent on the means of protection 

 which I expect to find. Is it possible that 

 a detail of such great importance can have 

 escaped all these observers? Am I the 

 dupe of my imagination? Is the protective 

 system, though proved to my mind by close 

 logical reasoning, merely one of my 



1 Jean Marie Leon Dufour (178c -1865), an army sur- 

 geon who served with distinction in several campaigns 

 and afterwards practised as a doctor in the Landes, 

 where he attained great eminence as a naturalist. Fabre 

 often refers to him as the Wizard of the Landes. Cf. The 

 Life of the Spider, by J. Henri Fabre, translated by Alex- 

 ander Teixeira de Mattos: chap, i; and The Life of the 

 Fht ^y J- Henri Fabre, translated by Alexander Teixeira 

 de Mattos: chap. i. — Translator's Note. 



- Amedee Comte Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau (1769- 

 circa 1850), author of an Histoire naturelle des insectes 

 (1836-1846) and of the volume on insects in the Encyclo- 

 pedie methodiqut. He was a younger brother of Louis 

 Michel and Felix Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau, the mem- 

 bers of the Convention. — Translator's Note. 



2 Jean Victor Audouin (1797-1841), founder of the An- 

 nates des sciences naturelles and author of a number of 

 works on insects injurious to agriculture. — Translator's 

 Note. 



* fimile Blanchard (b. 1820), author of various works 

 on insects. Spiders, etc. — Translator's Note. 

 30 



