The Pelopaeus' Victuals 



flict death instantly with a stroke of the 

 stiletto, delivered with a science of slaughter 

 no less astonishing than the science of the 

 paralysers. We shall see the reasons that 

 call for these complete murders and we shall 

 recognize, under other aspects, the pro- 

 found anatomical and physiological know- 

 ledge which a rational action would demand 

 in order to rival the unconscious action of 

 instinct. As for the necessity of killing her 

 Spiders under which the Pelopaeus labours, 

 I find it impossible even to suspect the 

 cause. 



What I do see, without any lengthy in- 

 vestigations, is the logical method whereby 

 the Pelopaeus makes the most of the corpses 

 threatened with speedy putrefaction. To 

 begin with, each cell contains a number of 

 victims. The carcase actually attacked by 

 the larva, ground between its mandibles, 

 abandoned and attacked at another point, 

 soon becomes a shapeless and disorganized 

 mass, more liable than ever to putrefy. 

 But it is small and is therefore consumed at 

 a single sitting, before decomposition over- 

 takes it; for once the larva has bitten into 

 a Spider it does not turn elsewhere for food. 

 The others therefore remain intact, which 

 is enough to preserve them in a condition of 

 97 



