Bramble-bees and Others 



cate material for her wallets, the robinla- 

 leaves? What mental pattern guides her 

 scissors? What system of measurement tells 

 her the dimensions? One would like to pic- 

 ture the insect as a living pair of compasses, 

 capable of tracing an elliptic curve by a cert- 

 ain natural inflexion of its body, even as our 

 arm traces a circle by swinging from the 

 shoulder. A blind mechanism, the mere out- 

 come of its organization, would alone be re- 

 sponsible for its geometry. This explanation 

 would tempt me if the large oval pieces were 

 not accompanied by much smaller ones, also 

 oval, which are used to fill the empty spaces. 

 A pair of compasses which changes its radius 

 of its own accord and alters the curve accord- 

 ing to the plan before it appears to me an 

 instrument somewhat difficult to believe in. 

 There must be something much better than 

 that. The circular pieces of the lid suggest it 

 to us. 



If, by the mere flexion inherent in her 

 structure, the Leaf-cutter succeeds in cutting 

 out ovals, how does she succeed in cutting 

 out rounds? Can we admit the presence of 

 other wheels in the machinery for the new 

 pattern, so different in shape and size? Be- 



252 



