Bramble-Dwellers 



Yes, my revered master, I will admit with- 

 out hesitation that the bramble-dwellers leave 

 their sheath in the converse order to that of 

 their ages: the youngest first, the oldest last; 

 If not invariably, at least very often. But 

 does the hatching, by which I mean the emer- 

 gence from the cocoon, take place in the same 

 order? Does the evolution of the elder wait 

 upon that of the younger, so that each may 

 give those who would bar his passage time to 

 effect their deliverance and to leave the road 

 clear? I very much fear that logic has car- 

 ried your deductions beyond the bounds of 

 reality. Rationally speaking, my dear sir, 

 nothing could be more accurate than your in- 

 ferences; and yet we must forego the theory 

 of the strange inversion which you suggest. 

 None of the Bramble-bees with whom I have 

 experimented behaves after that fashion. I 

 know nothing personal about Odynerus ruhi- 

 colus, who appears to be a stranger In my dis- 

 trict; but, as the method of leaving must be 

 almost the same when the habitation Is ex- 

 actly similar, It Is enough, I think, to experi- 

 ment with some of the bramble-dwellers in 

 order to learn the history of the rest. 



My studies will, by preference, bear upon 



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