THE GREAT PEACOCK 189 



On the next day they were marked, by means of a sHght 

 tonsure on the thorax. 



The total number of butterflies attracted on these eight 

 nights amounted to a hundred and fifty ; a stupendous 

 number when I consider what searches I had to under- 

 take during the two following years in order to collect 

 the specimens necessary to the continuation of my 

 investigation. Without being absolutely undiscoverable, 

 in my immediate neighbourhood the cocoons of the 

 Great Peacock are at least extremely rare, as the trees on 

 which they are found are not common. For two winters 

 I visited all the decrepit almond-trees at hand, inspected 

 them all at the base of the trunk, under the jungle of 

 stubborn grasses and undergrowth that surrounded them ; 

 and how often I returned with empty hands ! Thus my 

 hundred and fifty butterflies had come from some little 

 distance ; perhaps from a radius of a mile and a quarter 

 or more. How did they learn of what was happening 

 in my study ? 



Three agents of information affect the senses at a 

 distance : sight, sound, and smell. Can we speak of 

 vision in this connection ? Sight could very well guide 

 the arrivals once they had entered the open window ; 

 but how could it help them out of doors, among 

 unfamiliar surroundings ? Even the fabulous eye of the 

 lynx, which could see through walls, would not be 

 sufficient ; we should have to imagine a keenness of vision 

 capable of annihilating leagues of space. It is needless 

 to discuss the matter further ; sight cannot be the 

 guiding sense. 



Sound is equally out of the question. The big-bodied 

 creature capable of calling her mates from such a distance 



