56 SOCIAL LIFE IN THE INSECT WORLD 



sun followed a cold night, that I found the signs of 

 completed incubation ; but I always came too late ; 

 the young Cigales had departed. At most I sometimes 

 found one hanging by a thread to its natal stem and 

 struggling in the air. I supposed it to be caught in 

 a thread of gossamer, or some shred of cobweb. 



At last, on the 27th of October, despairing of success, I 

 gathered some asphodels from the orchard, and the 

 armful of dry twigs in which the Cigales had laid their 

 eggs was taken up to my study. Before giving up all 

 hope I proposed once more to examine the egg-chambers 

 and their contents. The morning was cold, and the 

 first fire of the season had been lit in my room. I placed 

 ^y little bundle on a chair before the fire, but without 

 any intention of testing the effect of the heat of the 

 flames upon the concealed eggs. The twigs, which I 

 was about to cut open, one by one, were placed there to 

 be within easy reach of my hand, and for no other 

 reason. 



Then, while I was examining a split twig with my 

 magnifying-glass, the phenomenon which I had given 

 up all hope of observing took place under my eyes. 

 My bundle of twigs was suddenly alive ; scores and 

 scores of the young larvae were emerging from their 

 egg-chambers. Their numbers were such that my 

 ambition as observer was amply satisfied. The eggs 

 were ripe, on the point of hatching, and the warmth of 

 the fire, bright and penetrating, had the effect of sun- 

 light in the open. I was quick to profit by the unexpected 

 piece of good fortune. 



At the orifice of the egg-chamber, among the torn fibres 

 of the bark, a little cone-shaped body is visible, with two 



