The Nuptial Flight 



rendering the kiss one that can never be 

 forgotten ; and, content this time with 

 moderate tithe, proceeding herself, with 

 hands that are almost maternal, to intro- 

 duce and unite, in one body, for a long 

 and inseparable future, two little fragile 

 lives. 



Profound truth has not this poetry, but 

 possesses another that we are less apt to 

 grasp, which, however, we should end, 

 perhaps, by understanding and loving. 

 Nature has not gone out of her way to 

 provide these two " abbreviated atoms," 

 as Pascal would call them, with a resplen- 

 dent marriage, or an ideal moment of love. 

 Her concern, as we have said, was merely 

 to improve the race by means of crossed 

 fertilisation. To ensure this she has con- 

 trived the organ of the male in such a 

 fashion that he can make use of it only 

 in space. A prolonged flight must first 

 expand his two great tracheal sacs ; these 



21 321 



