THE LANGUEDOCIAN SCORPION 235 



I suspected that the male, if he did not break loose in time, 

 once his functions were fulfilled, was devoured, wholly or 

 partly, according to the matron's appetite. I now have 

 the certain proof before my eyes. Yesterday, I saw the 

 couple enter their home after the usual preliminary, the 

 stroll ; and, this morning, under the same tile, at the 

 moment of my visit, the bride is consuming her mate. 



We are entitled to believe that the poor wretch has at- 

 tained his ends. Were he still necessary to the brood, 

 he would not yet be eaten. The actual couple have 

 therefore been quick about the business, whereas I see 

 others fail to finish after provocations and contemplations 

 exceeding in duration the time which it takes the hour- 

 hand to go twice round the clock. Circumstances which 

 it is impossible to state with precision — the condition of 

 the atmosphere, perhaps, the electric tension, the tempera- 

 ture, the individual ardour of the couple — to a large 

 extent accelerate or delay the finale of the pairing ; and 

 this is what constitutes the serious difficulty for the ob- 

 server anxious to seize the exact moment whereat the 

 as yet uncertain function of the combs might be revealed. 



14 May. — It is certainly not hunger that sets my 

 animals in commotion night after night. The quest of 

 food has nothing to say to their evening rounds. I have 

 served up a varied bill of fare to the busy crowd, a fare 

 chosen from that which they appear to Hke best. It 

 includes tender morsels in the shape of young Crickets ; 

 small Locusts, fleshier and in better condition than the 

 Acridians ; Moths minus their wings. In a more advanced 

 season, I add Dragon-flies, a highly-appreciated dish, as 

 is proved by their equivalent, the full-groAvn Ant-lion, 

 of whom I often find the scraps, the wings, in the Scor- 

 pions' cave. 



