The Anthrax 



I have resumed my plans of yore, still alive 

 like the coal smouldering under the ashes. 

 The Anthrax has told me her secrets, which 

 I in my turn am going to divulge. Would 

 that I could address all those who cheered me 

 on this path, including first and foremost the 

 revered Master of the Landes. 1 But the ranks 

 have thinned, many have been promoted to 

 another world and their disciple lagging be- 

 hind them can but record, in memory of those 

 who are no more, the story of the insect clad 

 in deepest mourning. 



In the course of July, let us give a few side- 

 ward knocks to the bracing pebbles and detach 

 the nests of the Chalicodoma of the Walls 2 

 from their supports. Loosened by the shock, 

 the dome comes off cleanly, all in one piece. 

 Moreover — and this is a great advantage — 

 the cells come into view wide open on the base 

 of the exposed nest, for at this point they have 

 no other wall than the surface of the pebble. 

 In this way, without any scraping, which would 

 be wearisome work for the operator and 

 dangerous to the inhabitants of the dome, we 



1 Leon Dufour (1780-1865), also described by the au- 

 thor as the "Wizard of the Landes." Cf. The Life of 

 the Spider: chap. i. — Translator's Note. 



2 A Mason-bee. Cf. Insect Life: chap. xx. — Translator's 

 Note. 



29 



