THE NATURAL 



hesitation toward the pasture it needs, recognizes and 

 flees the enemies of its race, makes love, and finally con- 

 structs a nest identical with the cradle from which it has 

 emerged. 1 



One sees quite well that the acquisitions of the indi- 

 vidual have passed to the descendant, but how? How 

 have they fixed themselves in the nerves and blood dur- 

 ing a few short days of life? Without any apprentice- 

 ship the sphex paralyzes with three stabs the cricket which 

 is to feed its larvae; if the cricket is killed and not para- 

 lyzed, the larvae will die, poisoned by the carrion; and 

 if the paralysis is not durable the cricket will come to, 

 and destroy the sphex in the egg. The manoeuvre of this 

 wasp and of many other killing hymenoptera has this 

 tiresome point for our reasoning, the act must be perfect, 

 on pain of death. Nevertheless it must be admitted that 

 the sphex has formed itself slowly, like all complex ani- 



1 To my mind a slight unsoundness creeps into Chap. XVI, and 

 here both Fabre and Gourmont seem to me to go astray in con- 

 sidering the insect as a separate creature, i. e. a creature cut off 

 from its larva or cocoon life. Surely the animal may be sup- 

 posed to exist while in its cocoon or larva, it may reasonably be 

 supposed to pass that period in reflection, preparing for pre- 

 cisely the acts of its desire (as for example an intelligent young 

 man might pass his years in a university under professors, await- 

 ing reasonable maturity to act or express his objections). The 

 larva has its months of quiet, precisely the necessary pre-reflec- 

 tion for the two days' joy-ride of exterior manifestation, amours, 

 etc., its contemplatio, or what may be counted as analogous, 

 passing in its cell. The perfection and precision of its acts, 

 being, let us say, proportionate to the non-expressive period. 

 Having spent God knows how long in that possibly monotonous 

 nest, it seems small wonder that the insect should know the 

 pattern by heart. Small wonder, that is to say wonder not 

 incommensurate with the general wonder of the whole process. 

 E. P. 



IQ2 



