The Life of Jean Henri Fabre 



primary larva, the secondary larva, the 

 pseudo-chrysalis, and the tertiary larva, and 

 these resemble one another so little that only 

 the most sustained attention on the observ- 

 er's part enables him to believe the testi- 

 mony of his eyes. 



All these revelations keenly stimulated the 

 curiosity and emulation of the specialists, and 

 set them " on the track of the history, hith- 

 erto mysterious, of the Cantharides and all 

 the insects resembling them. ... A number 

 of naturalists, Beauregard, Riley, Valery- 

 Mayet, Kunckel d'Herculais, Lichtenstein, 

 and others began to study the insects more or 

 less adapted to the preparation of blisters: 

 the Mylabres, the Meloes, the Cantharides. 

 Lichtenstein even carried the larvae of the 

 Cantharides in his watch pocket, enclosed in 

 small glass tubes, so that he could keep them 

 warm and observe them at any moment." 



It was by reading the memoir on the 

 peregrinations and metamorphoses of the 

 Sitaris that M. Perrier 1 made the acquaint- 

 ance of Fabre's work, of which he was to 

 become one of the most competent judges and 

 fervent and eloquent admirers. He referred 

 to this essay last year in his speech at the 

 Serignan jubilee: 



*. Perrier, Revue hebdomadaire, October 22, 1910. 

 298 



