INSENSIBILITY TO PAIN. 193 



who know me to be a tender-hearted person ; 

 but I would not take even insect life did I not 

 feel quite sure that their position in the scale of 

 life was too low for them to feel pain as we 

 understand it. All I have seen myself confirms 

 me in this belief, and I further know of two 

 cases told me by trusted friends. In one case 

 the body of a wasp was removed at the slender 

 waist by a pointed pair of scissors, and the 

 insect went on feeding quite unconcernedly. 

 In the other the body of a dragon-fly was 

 removed, and a piece of straw fastened in its 

 place to give the proper balance, and the 

 creature ate and flew about just as if nothing 

 had happened. 



There is certainly a very great difference in 

 the time these small creatures take to die in the 

 poison-bottle, for which I am very sorry. Even 

 the butterflies vary, the females, if they have 

 not laid their eggs, lingering the longest ; many 

 even finish laying them in the bottle, as if it 

 were impossible for them to die before they had 



fulfilled their mission in life. Sphynx-moths 



N 



