The Common Wasp 



inspection. Without making further investi- 

 gations, which might cost us dear, let us mark 

 the spot. We will return at nightfall, when 

 the whole legion will have come home from 

 the fields. 



The conquest of a nest of Common Wasps 

 (Vespa vulgaris, LlNN.) would be a rather 

 serious undertaking if one did not practise a 

 certain prudence. Half a pint of petrol, a 

 reed-stump nine inches long, a good-sized 

 lump of clay or loam, ready tempered by 

 kneading: such is my equipment, which I 

 have come to consider the best and simplest, 

 after various trials with less effectual means. 



The asphyxiating-method is indispensable 

 here, unless we employ costly expedients 

 out of all keeping with my resources. The 

 excellent Reaumur, when he wanted to place 

 a live Wasps'-nest in a glass case, with a 

 view to observing the habits of the inmates, 

 had willing lackeys, seasoned to their pain- 

 ful job, who, allured by a handsome reward, 

 paid for the scientist's gratification with their 

 skins. I, who should have to pay with my 

 own skin, think twice before digging up the 

 coveted nest. I begin by suffocating the in- 

 habitants. Dead Wasps do not sting. It is 

 a brutal method, but perfectly safe. 



Besides, I have no need to revise the ob- 

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