THE LANGUEDOCIAN SCORPION 249 



one of those seconds of sweet contentment which, at 

 intervals, reward the long-suffering observer. For the first 

 time, I had before my eyes the fine spectacle of the 

 Scorpioness clad in her young. The delivery was quite 

 recent ; it must have taken place during the night ; for, 

 on the previous evening, the mother was bare. 



Further successes awaited me : on the next day, a second 

 mother is whitened with her brood ; the day after that, 

 two others at a time are in the same condition. That 

 makes four. It is more than my ambition hoped for. 

 With four families of Scorpions and a few quiet days 

 before me, I can find sweets in life. 



All the more so as fortune loads me with her favours. 

 Ever since the first discovery in the jars, I have been 

 thinking of the glass cage and asking myself whether the 

 Languedocian Scorpion might not be as precocious as 

 her black sister. Let us go quick and see. 



I turn over the twenty-five tiles. A glorious success ! 

 I feel one of those hot waves of enthusiasm with which 

 I was familiar at twenty rush through my old veins. 

 Under three of the lot of tiles, I find a mother burdened 

 with her family. One has little ones already shooting 

 up, about a week old, as the sequel of my observa- 

 tions informed me ; the two others have borne their 

 children recently, in the course of last night, as is proved 

 by certain remnants jealously guarded under the paunch. 

 We shall see presently what those remnants represent. 



July runs to an end, August and September pass 

 and nothing more occurs to swell my collection. The 

 period of the family, therefore, for both Scorpions is 

 the second fortnight in July. From that time onward, 

 everything is finished. And yet, among my guests in the 

 glass cage, there remain females as big and fat as those 



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