1048 Marvels of the Universe 
a concomitant of decay. The experimenter Redi exposed the latter fallacy by covering meat 
with gauze, thus proving that without flesh-flies to lay their eggs there could be no maggots. 
In like manner the careful investigations of naturalists more anxious to establish facts than to 
formulate theories have revealed the secrets of the Oak-apple ; and the sequel demonstrates in a 
striking manner the correctness of the adage which avers that truth is stranger than fiction. 
The story of the Oak-apple begins in the dark days of winter when a small, wingless insect, 
not unlike an ant in appearance, creeps up the trunk of an oak-tree. This usually occurs during 
the months of December and January. 
Whence she comes we will inquire sub- 
sequently. For the moment we will 
limit our attention to her behaviour. 
She makes her way along the branches, 
thence to the small twigs, and begins 
to examine the fat, brown buds with 
the air of an expert, tapping them 
knowingly with her antenne in much 
the same way that an ichneumon wasp 
“sounds’’ a promising caterpillar 
before implanting an egg in its plump 
carcase. The resemblance is more than 
passing, for the Oak-apple insect, as 
we may now call her, is actually pre- 
paring to deposit her eggs in the heart 
of a bud. Often she chooses a ter- 
minal bud for her purpose, but she 
selects auxiliary buds as well. She 
deliberately mounts the bud, cleverly 
inserts her long ovipositor, or egg- 
laying instrument, between the closely- 
wrapped scales, and plants her eggs 
right down among the tightly-packed 
baby leaves which le snugly waiting 
for the call of springtime to rouse 
them from their slumber. The eggs 
are pear-shaped, translucent and ex- 
cessively minute. Sometimes a great 
many are placed in a bud, sometimes 
only a few, but the average number 
Photo by] (H. Bastin. ; 
; OAK-APPLES. appears to be about thirty ; thus, one 
Three newly-formed Oak-apples are here shown. It will be noted is inclined to think that the insect, 
dnae they are all at the extremity of twigs. euided by smesfinwt, lays rpreachieice 
as many eggs as the bud is capable of supporting. If the insect does not find room for all her 
eggs in one bud, she goes to another, and so on until her task is completed. For to inoculate 
oak-buds is the sole object of her being, and when her store of eggs is exhausted, she dies. 
The next act in this wonderful drama is not easy to interpret. All the oak-buds that contain 
eges develop into Oak-apples when the tree begins to put forth its leaves in May. How are we 
to account for this? Many theories have been suggested, including the plausible one that the insect 
injects a minute drop of poison into the bud, and that this stimulates the vegetable cells, so that they 
undergo rapid multiplication, and produce this abnormal outgrowth which is known to naturalists 
