The Great Peacock 



sense entirely. The too-strong scent will neu- 

 tralize the v'ery faint one. 



I begin by sprinkling naphthaline in the 

 room where the males will be received this 

 evening. Also, in the bell-jar, beside the fe- 

 male, I lay a big capsule full of the same stuff. 

 When the visiting-hour comes, I have only to 

 stand in the doorway of the room to get a 

 distinct smell of gas-works. My artifice fails. 

 The Moths arrive as usual, they enter the 

 room, pass through its tarry atmosphere and 

 make for the cage with as much certainty of 

 direction as though in unscented surroundings. 



My confidence in the olfactory explanation 

 is shaken. Besides, I am now unable to go 

 on. Worn out by her sterile wait, my pri- 

 soner dies on the ninth day, after laying her 

 unfertilized eggs on the wirework of the 

 cage. In the absence of a subject of experi- 

 ment, there is no more to be done until next 

 year. 



This time I shall take my precautions, I 

 shall lay in a stock so as to be able to repeat 

 as often as I wish the experiments which I 

 have already tried and those which I am con- 

 templating. To work, then; and that with- 

 out delay. 



263 



