The Mason-bees 



les, by de Castelnau/ E. Blanchard^ and 

 Lucas, ^ and boasted a multitude of most at- 

 tractive illustrations; but the price of it, the 

 price of it! No matter; was not my splendid 

 income supposed to cover everything, food 

 for the mind as well as food for the body? 

 Anything extra that I gave to the one I could 

 save upon the other: a method of balancing 

 painfully familiar to those who look to science 

 for their livelihood. The purchase was ef- 

 fected. That day my professional emolu- 

 ments were severely strained: I devoted a 

 month's salary to the acquisition of the book. 

 I had to resort to miracles of economy for 

 some time to come before making up the 

 enormous deficit. 



The book was devoured; there Is no other 

 word for it. In It, I learned the name of my 

 black Bee; I read for the first time various 

 details of the habits of Insects; I found, sur- 

 rounded in my eyes with a sort of halo, the 



^Francis Comte de Castelnau de la Porte (1812-1880), 

 the naturalist and traveller. Castelnau was born in Lon- 

 don and died at Melbourne. — Translator's Note, 



^Emile Blanchard {b. 1820), author of various 

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



^Pierre Hippolyte Lucas {b. 1815), author of works 

 on Moths and Butterflies, Crustaceans, etc. — Translator's 

 Note. 



