The Common Wasp 



It is indeed a superb achievement, as large 

 as a fair-sized pumpkin. It hangs free on 

 every side, except at the top, where various 

 roots, mostly rootstocks of couch-grass, pene- 

 trate the thickness of the wall and fasten the 

 nest firmly. Its shape is round wherever the 

 softness and the homogeneous character of 

 the ground have permitted a symmetrical ex- 

 cavation. In stony soil, the sphere becomes 

 misshapen, a little more here, a little less 

 there, according to the obstacles encountered. 



A space of a hand's breadth is always left 

 open between the paper monument and the 

 sides of the subterranean vault. This is the 

 wide street along which the builders move 

 unhindered at their continual task of enlarg- 

 ing and strengthening the nest. The one 

 lane by which the city communicates with the 

 outer world opens into it. The unoccupied 

 space under the nest is much greater. It 

 is rounded into a big basin which allows the 

 general wrapper to be enlarged as fresh lay- 

 ers of cells are added to those above. This 

 receptacle, shaped like the bottom of a cop- 

 per, is also the great cess-pool into which the 

 multitudinous refuse of the Wasps'-nest falls 

 and accumulates. 



The size of the cavern raises a question. 

 The Wasps themselves dug the cellar. Of 

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