The Mason- Wasps 



quartz. The Anthidia of the Snail-shell, 

 rude labourers that they are, accept all that 

 falls to their mandibles: angular splinters 

 of limestone, morsels of flint, bits of shell, 

 hard particles of earth; the daintier 

 Odynerus as a rule inlays with beads of 

 flint only. Can this taste for gems be due 

 to the brilliancy, the translucency, the polish 

 of the grain? Can it be that the insect 

 takes pleasure in its casket of precious 

 stones? The answer will be the same as 

 in the case of the ornamental rose-window, 

 the tiny shell sometimes inserted in the 

 centre of the lid by the two resin-gatherers 

 who inhabit the shell of the Edible Snail: 

 why not? 



Be this as it may, the gem-collector is so 

 pleased with her pretty pebbles that she puts 

 them everywhere. The partitions that sub- 

 divide the shell into chambers are repro- 

 ductions of the lid: each has a carefully- 

 finished mosaic of translucent flints on the 

 front surface. In this manner three or 

 four cells are contrived in the shell of the 

 Edible Snail; in that of the Bulimulus, two 

 at most. The cells are small but correctly 

 shaped and strongly protected. 



The protection, for that matter, is not 

 restricted to these multiple paved hangings: 

 180 



