The Problem of the Scoliae 



These four conditions of success, with 

 chance so near to zero in each case, must all 

 be realized together, or the grub will never 

 be reared. The Scolia may have captured 

 a larva with close-packed nerve-centres, a 

 Cetonia-grub, for instance; but this will go 

 for nothing unless she direct her sting to- 

 wards the only vulnerable point. She may 

 know the whole secret of the art of stabbing 

 her victim, but this means nothing if she does 

 not know where to fasten her egg. The 

 suitable spot may be found, but all the fore- 

 going will be useless if the grub be not 

 versed in the method to be followed in de- 

 vouring its prey while keeping it alive. It 

 is all or nothing. 



Who would venture to calculate the final 

 chance on which the future of the Scolia, or 

 of her precursor, is based, that complex 

 chance whose factors are four infinitely im- 

 probable occurrences, one might almost say 

 four impossibilities? And such a conjunc- 

 tion is supposed to be a fortuitous result, to 

 which the present instinct is due! Come, 

 come! 



From another point of view again, the 

 Darwinian theory is at variance with the 

 Scoliae and their prey. In the heap of gar- 

 den mould which I exploited in order to write 



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