THE ANTHRAX FLY 179 



less able than the mother to make its way into the Mason-bee's 

 dwelling. And yet its provisions are there : they must be 

 reached : it is a matter of life and death. How does the Fly 

 set about it ? In the face of this puzzle I resolved to attempt 

 an almost impossible task and watch the Anthrax from the 

 moment it left the egg. 



Since these Flies are not really plentiful in my own neigh- 

 bourhood I made an expedition to Carpentras, the dear little 

 town where I spent my twentieth year. The old college where 

 I made my first attempts as a teacher was unchanged in appear- 

 ance. It still looked like a penitentiary. In my early days 

 it was considered unwholesome for boys to be gay and active, 

 so our system of education applied the remedy of melancholy 

 and gloom. Our houses of instruction were above all houses 

 of correction. In a yard between four high walls, a sort of 

 bear-pit, the boys fought to make room for their games under 

 a spreading plane-tree. All round it were cells like horse- 

 boxes, without light or air : those were the class-rooms. 



I saw, too, the shop where I used to buy tobacco as I came 

 out of the college ; and also my former dwelling, now occupied 

 by monks. There, in the embrasure of a window, sheltered 

 from profane hands, between the closed outer shutters and 

 the panes, I kept my chemicals bought for a few sous saved 

 out of the housekeeping money. My experiments, harmless 

 or dangerous, were made on a corner of the fire, beside the 

 simmering broth. How I should love to see that room again, 

 where I pored over mathematical problems ; and my familiar 

 friend the blackboard, which I hired for five francs a year, and 

 could never buy outright for want of the necessary cash ! 



But I must return to my insects. My visit to Carpentras, 

 unfortunately, was made too late in the year to be very profit- 

 able. I saw only a few Anthrax Flies hovering round the face 

 of the cliff. Yet I did not despair, because it was plain that 

 these few were not there to take exercise, but to settle their 

 families. 



So I took my stand at the foot of the rock, under a broiling 



