Fabre's Writings 



Yet he is far from wishing to " belittle the 

 merits " or " diminish the reputation " of his 

 beloved insects. No one can be less suspected 

 of prejudice against them, since none has 

 "glorified" them more abundantly; no one 

 has spoken of them with greater admiration 

 and sympathy; no one has more fully de- 

 scribed their high achievements, and no one 

 has revealed such unknown and incredible 

 marvels on their behalf. It is enough to re- 

 call the " miracles " of the science and wis- 

 dom of the paralysers. 



But far from invalidating the conclusion 

 drawn from the obvious stupidity of the in- 

 sect even in the actions which are its specialty, 

 the science and wisdom of instinct afford it 

 a striking confirmation. The very " slightest 

 glimmer of intelligence " would suffice to 

 make the insect do what it does not and leave 

 undone what it does even within the circum- 

 ference of its attributions. If it is plainly 

 devoid of this glimmer, how much more 

 plainly is it devoid of that " splendour of in- 

 telligence " which the " miracles " of instinct 

 would require ! x To sum up, the insect sins 

 too greatly by excess and by defect in its in- 

 stinctive actions to justify our attributing to 

 it an understanding of these actions; we are 



i Souvenirs, II., p. 138; VI., pp. 98, "7- 



347 



