The Mason-Wasps 



it remains after it has received its lid and 

 its little Spider with an egg laid upon her 

 side. The Agenia's urns then, notwith- 

 standing their brittleness, are left entirely 

 unprotected, whether they be placed end to 

 end in a winding row or grouped in a con- 

 fused cluster. 



Nevertheless, the mother displays a pre- 

 caution unknown to the Pelopaeus. A drop 

 of water placed inside the latter's cell 

 quickly spreads and disappears, soaking the 

 walls. In an Agenia's cell it remains at the 

 point touched, without penetrating the 

 thickness. The urn therefore is glazed on 

 the inner surface, like our ordinary pots, 

 which are made watertight by the silicate 

 of lead furnished by the potter's galena. 

 The waterproofing employed cannot be 

 other than the Agenia's saliva, an agent 

 which is anything but plentiful, because of 

 the insect's exiguous dimensions, and so it 

 is applied only on the side. Indeed, if I 

 stand a cell on a drop of water, I see the 

 moisture at once spread from bottom to top 

 and turn the vessel into pulp, until nothing 

 is left but a thin inner layer, which is less 

 yielding. 



I do not know where the Ageniae get their 

 materials. Do they follow the Pelopseus' 

 86 



