Objections and Rejoinders 



pany. I have against me, I admit, the Wee- 

 vils and the Buprestes of the Cerceres. 

 These mailed ones hardly give the sting a 

 chance, save behind the prothorax, the point 

 at which the lancet is actually directed. If I 

 were one to stand on trifles, I might observe 

 that in front of the prothorax, under the 

 throat, is an accessible spot and that the 

 Cerceres will have nothing to do with it. 

 But let us proceed; I give up the horn-clad 

 Beetle. 



What are we to say of the Grey Worm 

 and other caterpillars beloved of the Am- 

 mophilae? Here are victims accessible to 

 the sting underneath, on the back, on the 

 sides, fore and aft, everywhere with the same 

 facility, excepting the top of the head. 

 And of this infinity of points, which are 

 equally penetrable, the Wasp selects ten, 

 always the same, differing in no way from 

 the rest, unless it be by the close proximity 

 of the nerve-centres. What are we to say 

 of the Cetonia- and Anoxia-larvae, which are 

 always attacked in the first thoracic segment, 

 after long and painful struggles, when the 

 assailant can sting the grub freely at what- 

 ever point she chooses, since it is quite naked 

 and offers no greater resistance to the lancet 

 at one point than at another? 



349 



