HOW TO HANDLE A WASP 



September 2Qth 



AT nerve you must have !" said a 

 companion stroller to me recently, 

 as I caught in my hand one com- 

 mon brown wasp after another and 

 twirled it in my fingers ; " what nerve ! for I know, of 

 course, that they must all have stung you, only you 

 won't admit it. 



"Could I do it?" he continued, in reply to my ques- 

 tion. " Why, of course I could do it, only I am not 

 such a fool !" 



In vain I assured him that the insects were harmless; 

 in vain urged him to clutch a small swarm which 

 crawled upon the fence close by. But prejudice is a 

 difficult obstacle, especially in matters of this kind, and 

 I was obliged to caress my wasps alone. 



" It is all in the way you do it," I observed, as I 

 picked up two at once from the summit of a golden- 

 rod, and rolled them into one waspy jumble between 

 my fingers, and then let them loose upon the wing, 

 none the worse bodily, even though somewhat richer 

 in experience. 



At length, after much persuasion, my friend's credu- 



