AUTUMN 31 



work, I thought ; but, as is always the way 

 with my efforts at iusect collecting, I could 

 fiiicl nothing to the purpose. The best I 

 could do was to bring mushrooms full of 

 maggots (larvae, the carrier of the cyanide 

 and alcohol bottles called them), and what 

 was desired was the beetles which the larvae 

 turned into. Once I announced a small spi- 

 der, but the bottle-holder said. No, it was 

 not a spider, but a mite ; and there was no 

 disputing an expert, who had published a 

 list of Franconia spiders, — one hundred 

 and forty-nine species ! (She had wished 

 very much for one more name, she told me, 

 but her friend and assistant had remarked 

 that the odd number would look more hon- 

 est !) However, it is a poor sort of man 

 who cannot enjoy the sight of another's 

 learning, and the exposure of his own ig- 

 norance. It was worth something to see 

 a first-rate, thoroughly equipped " insecta- 

 rian " at work and to hear her talk. I should 

 have been proud even to hold one of her 

 smaller phials, but they were all adjusted 

 beyond the need, or even the comfortable 

 possibility, of such assistance. There was 



