A Great Preparation 



Geneva, etc., and the Entomological So- 

 cieties of London, Stockholm, and St. Peters- 

 burg. ^ 



If it is true, as some one has said, that 

 posterity begins at the frontier, these numer- 

 ous and flattering distinctions, coming from 

 all points of the horizon, are full of promise 

 for the immortality of his work. It is un- 

 doubtedly the case that foreigners benefit by 

 a degree of remoteness which is favourable 

 to sane judgment. For that matter, as far as 

 Fabre is concerned, the favourable verdict of 

 his peers is surrounded by hardly fewer 

 guarantees of impartiality in France than 

 abroad, for this worthy son of the Rouergue 

 has never been of those who seek to obtain 

 honours by any of the means that achieve 

 success through intrigue or influence, and we 

 may without paradox say that it is farther 

 from his village to Paris than from Paris to 

 London ; from obscurity in his village to 

 fame in Paris than from fame in Paris to 

 fame in London and other capitals. 



Nevertheless, legitimately acquired and 

 well founded though it might be, Fabre's 

 great scientific reputation had hardly extended 

 beyond the limits of the academies and the 

 somewhat restricted circle of professional 

 biologists and naturalists, or that of a few 

 359 



