The Glow-Worm and Other Beetles 



fact, he is hurried past the next stage. We 

 must not expect the impossible of him under 

 these conditions. Let him pin his specimens 

 to cork tablets, let him steep them in jars of 

 spirit, and leave to the sedentary the patient 

 observations that require time. 



This explains the extreme penury of his- 

 tory outside the dry descriptions of the 

 nomenclator. Overwhelming us with its 

 numbers, the exotic insect nearly always pre- 

 serves the secret of its manners. Neverthe- 

 less, it were well to compare what happens 

 under our eyes with that which happens else- 

 where; it were excellent to see how, in the 

 same guild of workers, the fundamental in- 

 stinct varies with climatic conditions. 



Then my longing to travel returns, vainer 

 to-day than ever, unless one could find a seat 

 on that carpet of which we read in the 

 Arabian Nights, the famous carpet whereon 

 one had but to sit to be carried whitherso- 

 ever he pleased. O marvellous conveyance, 

 far preferable to Xaxier de Maistre's post- 

 chaise! If I could only find just a little 

 corner on it, with a return-ticket ! 



I do find it. I owe this unexpected good 



fortune to a Brother of the Christian Schools, 



to Brother Judulien, of the La Salle College 



at Buenos Aires. His modesty would be of- 



238 



