36 FABRE'S BOOK OF INSECTS 



pays small heed to threatening attitudes. With the tip of 

 his slender tongue he picks up, one by one, the few stray 

 insects that have escaped the Ant. They make but a small 

 mouthful, but to judge from the Lizard's expression they 

 taste very good. Every time he gulps down one of the little 

 creatures he half-closes his eyelids, a sign of profound satis- 

 faction. 



Moreover, even before the hatching the eggs are in danger. 

 There is a tiny insect called the Chalcis, who carries a probe 

 vsharp enough to penetrate the nest of solidified foam. So 

 the brood of the Mantis shares the fate of the Cicada's. The 

 eggs of a stranger are laid in the nest, and are hatched before 

 those of the rightful owner. The owner's eggs are then eaten 

 by the invaders. The Mantis lays, perhaps, a thousand eggs. 

 Possibly only one couple of these escapes destruction. 



The Mantis eats the Locust : the Ant eats the Mantis : 

 the Wryneck eats the Ant. And in the autumn, when the 

 Wryneck has grown fat from eating many Ants, I eat the 

 Wryneck. 



It may well be that the Mantis, the Locust, the Ant, and 

 even lesser creatures contribute to the strength of the human 

 brain. In strange and unseen ways they have all supplied 

 a drop of oil to feed the lamp of thought. Their energies, 

 slowly developed, stored up, and handed on to us, pass into 

 our veins and sustain our weakness. We live by their death. 

 The world is an endless circle. Everything finishes so that 

 everything may begin again ; everything dies so that every- 

 thing may live. 



In many ages the Mantis has been regarded with super- 

 stitious awe. In Provence its nest is held to be the best 

 remedy for chilblains. You cut the thing in two, squeeze it, 

 and rub the afflicted part with the juice that streams out of 

 it. The peasants declare that it works like a charm. I have 

 never felt any relief from it myself. 



Further, it is highly praised as a wonderful cure for tooth- 



