CHAPTER IX 



RATIONING ACCORDING TO SEX 



CONSIDERED in respect of quality, the 

 food has just disclosed our profound ig- 

 norance of the origins of instinct. Success 

 falls to the blusterers, to the imperturbable 

 dogmatists, from whom anything is accepted 

 if only they make a little noise. Let us dis- 

 card this bad habit and admit that really, 

 if we go to the bottom of things, we 

 know nothing about anything. Scientifically 

 speaking, nature is a riddle to which human 

 curiosity finds no definite solution. Hypoth- 

 esis follows hypothesis; the theoretical 

 rubbish-heap grows bigger and bigger; and 

 still truth escapes us. To know how to 

 know nothing might well be the last word of 

 wisdom. 



Considered in respect of quantity, the food 

 sets us other problems, no less obscure. 

 Those of us who devote ourselves assidu- 

 ously to studying the customs of the game- 

 hunting Wasps soon find our attention ar- 

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