THE MOST MARVELLOUS DRILL IN THE WORLD 239 



of three pieces, there is room to spare for a soft chan- 

 nel through its centre, by which the egg is conducted 

 to the depths of the burrow. 



I have somewhere read that this particular boring 

 tool of the Thalessa has been infringed upon by a recent 

 human device, in which the same drilling mechanism 

 has been employed without so much as a " thank you " 

 to the ichneumon. How many others of the imple- 

 ments and devices and commodities and processes in 

 daily use by man the fruit, it is claimed, of his " supe- 

 rior intelligence," all duly protected by letters-patent 

 have had their first working model in nature ages be- 

 fore the human era? Who is he that assumes to be the 

 first paper-maker, weaver, plasterer, potter, or mason? 

 The world is overrun with impostors who would claim 

 the invention of saw, file, chisel, and gouge ; of the first 

 gun, or diving-bell, or lathe, to say nothing of propel- 

 lers, water-proof cement, log-cabins, javelins, scissors, 

 and even pincers! 



