CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN 



The spirit 

 of Fabre 



Fabre's 

 early years 



HENRI FABRE 



1. "Do you know the 

 Halicti ? Perhaps not. 

 There is no great harm 

 done ; it is quite possible 

 to enjoy the few pleasures 

 of life without knowing 

 the Halicti. Neverthe- 

 less, when questioned 

 with persistence, those 

 humble creatures with no 

 history can tell us some 

 very singular things ; and 

 their acquaintance is not 

 to be disdained if we de- 

 sire to enlarge our ideas a 

 little upon the bewilder- 

 ing rabble of this world. 



Since we have nothing better to do, let us look into these 

 Halicti. They are worth the trouble." With these per- 

 suasive words does Fabre, combining the spirit of the 

 poet with that of the naturalist, introduce us to those 

 wild bees which abound in both hemispheres, unnoticed 

 by the common man. To him all life is interesting ; and 

 especially insect life, on account of the remarkable 

 character and diversity of its manifestations. Every 

 garden, every hedgerow, is a veritable wonderland. 



2. J. Henri Fabre, born in 1823, spent his long life in 

 the warm, fertile region of the south of France, where 

 the Rhone wends its way toward the sea. There was 

 one exception to this statement; a brief period in Cor- 

 sica, as teacher of physics in the college at Ajaccio, gave 



280 



By courtesy of Dodd, Mead 6* Co. 

 FIG. 101. J. Henri Fabre. 



