The Great Peacock 



Hertzian waves. Can the Great Peacock 

 have anticipated our efforts in this direction? 

 In order to set the surrounding air in motion 

 and to inform pretenders miles away, can the 

 newly-hatched bride have at her disposal elec- 

 tric or magnetic waves, which one sort of 

 screen would arrest and another let through? 

 In a word, does she, in her own manner, em- 

 ploy a kind of wireless telegraphy? I see 

 nothing impossible in this : insects are accus- 

 tomed to Invent things quite as wonderful. 



I therefore lodge the female in boxes of 

 various characters. Some are made of tin, 

 some of cardboard, some of wood. All are 

 hermetically closed, are even sealed with stout 

 putty. I also use a glass bell-jar standing on 

 the insulating support of a pane of glass. 



Well, under these conditions of strict clo- 

 sing, never a male arrives, not one, however 

 favourable the mildness and quiet of the even- 

 ing. No matter its nature, whether of metal 

 or glass, of wood or cardboard, the closed 

 receptacle forms an insuperable obstacle to the 

 effluvia that betray the captive's whereabouts. 



A layer of cotton two fingers thick gives the 

 same result. I place the female in a large jar, 

 tying a sheet of wadding over the mouth by 



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