264 THE WONDERS OF INSTINCT 



particularly anxious to prove: the female sex can be 

 permuted with the male sex and can be permuted to the 

 point of disappearing altogether. We see this especially 

 in the third case, where the presence of a solitary female 

 in a family of twenty-six is due to the somewhat larger 

 diameter of the corresponding Snail-shell. 



There would still remain the inverse permutation: to 

 obtain only females and no males, or very few. The 

 first permutation makes the second seem very probable, 

 although I cannot as yet conceive a means of realizing 

 it. The only condition which I can regulate is the dimen- 

 sions of the home. When the rooms are small, the males 

 abound and the females tend to disappear. With gener- 

 ous quarters, the converse would not take place. I 

 should obtain females and afterwards an equal number of 

 males, confined in small cells which, in case of need, 

 would be bounded by numerous partitions. The factor 

 of space does not enter into the question here. What 

 artifice can we then employ to provoke this second permu- 

 tation? So far, I can think of nothing that is worth 

 attempting. 



It is time to conclude. Leading a retired life, in the 

 solitude of a village, having quite enough to do with 

 patiently and obscurely plowing my humble furrow, I 

 know little about modern scientific views. In my young 

 days I had a passionate longing for books and found it 

 difficult to procure them; to-day, when I could almost 

 have them if I wanted, I am ceasing to wish for them. 

 It is what usually happens as life goes on. I do not 



