The Mason-bees 



formations have taken place, transformations 

 will take place; the pity of it is that they are 

 not actually taking place. Of the three 

 tenses, one is lacking, the very one which di- 

 rectly interests us and which alone is clear 

 of the incubus of theory. This silence about 

 the present does not please me overmuch, 

 scarcely more than the famous picture oi The 

 Crossing of the Red Sea painted for a village 

 chapel. The artist had put upon the canvas 

 a broad ribbon of brightest scarlet; and that 

 was all. 



"Yes, that's the Red Sea," said the priest, 

 examining the masterpiece before paying for 

 it. "That's the Red Sea, right enough; but 

 where are the Israelites?" 



"They have passed," replied the painter. 



"And the Egyptians?" 



"They are on the way." 



Transformations have passed, transforma- 

 tions are on the way. For mercy's sake, can- 

 not they show us transformations in the act? 

 Must the facts of the past and the facts of the 

 future necessarily exclude the facts of the 

 present? I fail to understand. 



I call for a descendant of the Chalicodoma 

 and a descendant of the Osmia who have 

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