The Life of Jean Henri Fabre 



To all these questions the facts already 

 cited have replied. It is evident that the 

 Hymenopteron which provisions or closes 

 the nest found empty under the conditions 

 which we have seen imposed upon the Sphex 

 or the Pelopaeus, is ignorant of the why of 

 her work and does not in any case connect it 

 with its natural aim, which is the rearing of 

 the larvae. 



These expert surgeons, these marvellous anatom- 

 ists know nothing whatever, not even what their 

 victims are intended for. Their talent, which 

 confounds our reason, is devoid of a shadow of 

 consciousness of the work accomplished, a shadow 

 of foresight concerning the egg. 1 



Fabre, then, has vainly sought for 

 " proofs " of the intervention of reason in the 

 actions of the insect. He has not found them. 

 He has even found the very contrary; the 

 insect, interrogated as to its powers of rea- 

 son and " the logic attributed to it," has 

 plainly replied that it is entirely lacking in 

 reason and that logic is not its strong point. 



" Reflections upon Insect Psychology." Souvenirs, vi., 

 116. The Gloiv-JVorm and Other Beetles, chap. xi. 

 "The Burying Beetles"; see also Wonders of Instinct, 

 chap. vi. 



1 Souvenirs, iv., p. 238. 



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