The Common Wasp 



Then the creature at point of death, often of 

 a sickly brown, is torn ruthlessly from its cell 

 and dragged outside the nest. In the brutal 

 commonwealth of the Wasps, the invalid is 

 merely a clout, to be got rid of as quickly as 

 possible, for fear of contagion. 



Woe to the sick among these rude profes- 

 sors of hygiene ! Any and every cripple is 

 expelled and thrown to the maggot waiting 

 to eat him in the catacombs below. Should 

 the experimenter intervene, matters take an 

 even more atrocious turn. I remove from 

 their cells a few larvae and nymphs in excel- 

 lent hearth and place them on the surface of 

 the combs. Once outside the cells, where 

 the nymphs were maturing under a silken 

 cupola, while the larvae were being spoon- 

 fed with the utmost tenderness, the delicate 

 creatures are mere hateful obstacles and use- 

 less encumbrances. Ferociously the work- 

 ers tug at them, disembowel them and even 

 eat a little of them. After this cannibal re- 

 past, the victims are carted outside the nest. 

 Incapable of reentering their cradles, even 

 with assistance, larvae and nymphs, stripped 

 bare, perish, slain by their nurses. 



In the cage, however, the grubs generally 

 display a well-fed, glossy skin, a certificate of 

 good health. But see what happens on the 



