Chapter xix 



AN UNKNOWN SENSE 



I HAVE described the Ammophila's hunting 

 tactics in detail. The facts which I ascertained 

 seem to me so rich in results that, even if the 

 harmas laboratory supplied me with nothing 

 more, I should think myself indemnified by this 

 one observation. The surgical methods adopted 

 by the Wasp with the object of paralysing the 

 Grey Worm are the highest manifestation in 

 the realm of instinct that I have hitherto met. 

 This inborn science is eminently calculated 

 to give us food for thought. What a subtle 

 logician, what an unerring operator is that 

 unconscious physiologist, the Ammophila ! 



He who would witness these marvels for 

 liimself can hardly count on what a country 

 walk may happen to show him ; besides, if the 

 lucky opportunity did present itself, he would 

 not have time to profit by it. An observation, 

 which I kept up for five hours on end, without 

 even then managing to complete the experi- 

 ment and obtain the proofs which I anticipated, 



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