THE MANTIS.™ THE NEST 99 



and narrowest layers will give us an approximate average. 

 I find that a nest of fair size contains about four hundred 

 eggs. Thus the maker of the three nests, of which the last 

 was half as large as the others, produced no less than 

 a thousand eggs ; eight hundred were deposited in the 

 larger nests and two or three hundred in the smaller. 

 Truly a fine family, but a thought ungainly, were it not 

 that only a few of its members can survive. 



Of a fair size, of curious structure, and well in evidence 

 on its twig or stone, the nest of the Praying Mantis could 

 hardly escape the attention of the Provengal peasant. 

 It is well known in the country districts, where it goes 

 by the name of tigno ; it even enjoys a certain celebrity. 

 But no one seems to be aware of its origin. It is 

 always a surprise to my rustic neighbours when they 

 learn that the well-known tigno is the nest of the 

 common Mantis, the Prego-Dieu. This ignorance may 

 well proceed from the nocturnal habits of the Mantis. 

 No one has caught the insect at work upon her nest in 

 the silence of the night. The link between the artificer 

 and the work is missing, although both are well known 

 to the villager. 



No matter : the singular object exists ; it catches the 

 eye, it attracts attention. It must therefore be good for 

 something ; it must possess virtue of some kind. So in 

 all ages have the simple reasoned, in the child-like hope 

 of finding in the unfamiliar an alleviation of their sorrows. 



By general agreement the rural pharmacopoeia of 

 Provence pronounces the tigno to be the best of 

 remedies against chilblains. The method of employ- 

 ment is of the simplest. The nest is cut in two, squeezed, 

 and the affected part is rubbed with the cut surface as 



