The Mason- Wasps 



over the nest, to save the grub from sun- 

 stroke; I at once transferred larva and 

 provisions into a glass tube and placed this 

 tube in a box which I carried in my hand, 

 to minimize the jolting on the journey. 

 Nothing was of avail : the larva, when taken 

 from its dwelling, always pined away and 

 died. 



For a long time, I persisted in explaining 

 my failure by the difficulties attending the 

 removal. The cell of Eumenes Amadei is a 

 strong casket which cannot be forced with- 

 out sustaining a shock; and the demolition 

 of a work of this kind entails such varied 

 accidents that we are always liable to think 

 that the grub has been bruised by the wreck- 

 age. As for carrying home the nest intact 

 on its support, with a view to opening it 

 with greater care than is permitted by a 

 rough and ready operation in the fields, 

 that is out of the question: the nest nearly 

 always stands on an immovable rock or on 

 some big stone forming part of a wall. If 

 I failed in my attempts at rearing, it was 

 because the larva had suffered when I was 

 breaking up her house. The reason seemed 

 a good one; and I let it go at that. 



In the end, another idea occurred to me 

 and made me doubt whether my rebuffs 



20 



