THE COMMON WASP. 373 



brought forth till towards the end of August ; and 

 their sole occupation seems to be that of keeping 

 the nest clean : they carry out every kind of filth, 

 and the bodies of such of their companions as hap- 

 pen to die. In performing this operation, two of 

 them often join ; and when the load is too heavy, 

 they cut off the head, and transport the dead animal 

 at twice. 



Every nest about the beginning of October pre- 

 sents a strange scene of cruelty. At this season, 

 the Wasps not only cease to bring nourishment to 

 rheir young, but drag the grubs from their cells, and 

 carry them out of the nest, where, exposed to the 

 weather, and deprived of food, they all unavoidably 

 perish, if the Wasps neglect, which they seldom do, 

 to kill them with their fangs. This mode of pro- 

 cedure would at first seem a strange violation of 

 parental affection ; but the intentions of nature, 

 though they often elude our researches, are never 

 wrong. What appears to us cruel and unnatural 

 in this instinctive devastation, committed annually 

 by the Wasps, is perhaps an act of the greatest 

 mercy and compassion that could possibly have 

 taken place. Wasps are not, like the Honey-bees, 

 endowed with the instinct of laying up a store of 

 provisions for winter subsistence. If not prema- 

 turely destroyed by their parents, the young must 

 necessarily die a cruel and lingering death, occa- 

 sioned by hunger. Hence this seemingly harsh 

 conduct in the economy of Wasps, instead of afford- 

 ing an exception to the universal benevolence and 

 Bb 3 



