TWO MOTHER MASONS 99 



to her progeny next ironing day. Another found the 

 telephone a convenient place for locating a house ; and 

 a few years since one species of the Cement Makers 

 acquired the habit of building in the ends of the air- 

 brake tubes of the cars on one of the western railroads. 

 The management, frightened by visions of inevitable 

 collisions, sought counsel of experts. " Make a slit 

 opening to the tube," was the efficacious advice of the 

 entomologist. 



After the Cement Maker has finished her first tube 

 she leaves one end open and flies off in quest of her 

 prey. Now the wasp is not a vegetarian like the bee, 

 and she has before her the duty of supplying her young 

 with meat rather than bread. As her eggs are laid in 

 hot weather, and as enough food must be stored in the 

 cell with the egg to mature the larva, the question is 

 how to preserve meat fresh for so long a time. She 

 meets the difficulty thus : she hunts for spiders and 

 when she finds one she pounces upon it, stings it, and car- 

 ries it to the mud cell and places it within. She repeats 

 this process until she has placed as many spiders in the 

 tube as, according to her judgment, will be needed. She 

 then lays an egg in the cell and walls up the opening. 



The remarkable thing about this performance is the 

 magical effect of her sting. Whether it is the result 

 of a subtle poison or whether it is the special spot in 



