The Problem of the Scoliae 



the day by piling cloud upon cloud. Precur- 

 sors are easier to find than sound arguments. 

 Nevertheless, let us put the precursor of the 

 Scoliae to the test. 



What did she do? Being capable of 

 everything, she did a bit of everything. 

 Among its descendants were innovators who 

 developed a taste for tunnelling in sand and 

 vegetable mould. There they encountered 

 the larvae of the Cetonia, the Oryctes, the 

 Anoxia, succulent morsels on which to rear 

 their families. By degrees the indetermin- 

 ate Wasp adopted the sturdy proportions de- 

 manded by underground labour. By degrees 

 she learnt to stab her plump neighbours in 

 scientific fashion; by degrees she acquired the 

 difficult art of consuming her prey without 

 killing it; at length, by degrees, aided by the 

 richness of her diet, she became the powerful 

 Scolia with whom we are familiar. Having 

 reached this point, the species assumes a 

 permanent form, as does its instinct. 



Here we have a multiplicity of stages, all 

 of the slowest, all of the most incredible 

 nature, whereas the Wasp cannot found a 

 race except on the express condition of com- 

 plete success from the first attempt. We 

 will not insist further upon the insurmount- 

 able objection; we will admit that, amid so 

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