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perform painful experiments on himself in order to furnish the proof of his

theory; and he explains thus the curious cases of dermatitis which are

often observed among silkworm…breeders。 (7/20。) He proves the uselessness

of our meat…safes of metallic gauze; intended to preserve meat against

contamination; and the efficacy of a mere envelope of paper; not only to

preserve meat from flies; but also our garments from the clothes…moth。

(7/21。) He recommends the curious Proven?al recipe; which consists in

boiling suspected mushrooms in salt and water before eating them。 Finally

he suggests to members of the medical profession that they might perhaps

extract heroic remedies from these treacherous vegetables。 (7/22。)



He had need of that indefinite leisure which had hitherto been so wholly

lacking; for the events of ephemeral lives occur at indeterminate hours; at

unexpected moments; and are of brief duration。



So; attentive to their least movements; Fabre goes forth to observe them at

the earliest break of day; in the red dawn; when the bee 〃pops her head out

of her attic window to see what the weather is;〃 and the spiders of the

thickets lie in wait under the whorls of their nets; 〃which the tears of

night have changed into chaplets of dewdrops; whose magic jewellery;

sparkling in the sun;〃 is already attracting moths and midges。



Seated for hours before a sprig of terebinth; his eye; armed with the

magnifying glass; follows the slow manoeuvres of the terebinth louse; whose

proboscis 〃cunningly distils the venom which causes the leaf to swell and

produces those enormous tumours; those misshapen and monstrous galls; in

which the young pass their period of slumber。〃



He watches at night; by the dim light of a lantern; to copy the Scolopendra

at her task; seeking to surprise the secret of her eggs (7/23。); to observe

the Cione constructing her capsule of goldbeater's skin; or the

Processional caterpillars travelling head to tail along their satin trail;

extinguishing his candle only when sleep at last sets his eyelids blinking。

He will wake early to witness the fairy…like resurrection of the silkworm

moth (7/24。); 〃in order not to lose the moment when the nymph bursts her

swaddling…bands;〃 or when the wing of the locust issues from its sheath and

〃commences to sprout〃; no spectacle in the world is more wonderful than the

sight of 〃this extraordinary anatomy in process of formation;〃 the

unrolling of these 〃bundles of tissue; cunningly folded and reduced to the

smallest possible compass〃 in the insignificant alar stumps; which

gradually unfold 〃like an immense set of sails;〃 like the 〃body…linen of

the princess〃 of the fairy…tale; which was contained in one single hemp…

seed。 (7/25。)



In his Harmas he is like a stranger discovering an unknown world; 〃like a

kindly giant from Sirius; holding a magnifying glass to his eye; retaining

his breath; lest it should overturn and sweep away the pigmies which he is

observing。〃



His passion for interrogating the Sphinx of life; everywhere and at all

moments; sufficed to fill his days from one end of the year to the other。

When some distant subject interested him; even on the most scorching days;

he would put 〃his lunch in his pocket; an apple and a crust of bread;〃 and

sit out in the hot sunlight; accompanied by his dog; Vasco; Tom; or Rabbit;

fearing only that some importunate third person might come between nature

and himself。



When he walked in his garden he would let nothing escape him; witness those

precise notes of an eclipse of the sun; and of the effects which that

phenomenon produces upon animal life as a whole。



While his children followed the progress of the moon across the sun through

a pane of smoked glass; he attentively observed all that occurred in the

countryside。



〃It is four; the day grows pale; the temperature is fresher; the cocks

crow; surprised by this kind of twilight which comes before the hour。 A few

dogs are baying。。。The swallows; numerous before; have all disappeared。。。a

couple have taken refuge in my study; one window of which is open。。。when

the normal light returns they will come outdoors once more。。。The

nightingale; which had so long importuned me by his interminable song; is

silent at last (7/26。); the black…capped skylarks; which were warbling

continually; are suddenly still。。。only the young house…sparrows under the

tiles of the roof are mournfully chirping。。。Peace and silence; the daylight

more than half gone。。。In the Harmas I can no longer see the insects flying;

I find only one bee pillaging the rosemary; all life has disappeared。



〃Only a weevil; the Lixus;〃 which he is observing in a cage; 〃continues;

step by step; without the slightest emotion; his amorous by…play; as though

nothing unusual were happening。。。The nightingale and the skylark may be

silent; oppressed by fear; the bee may re…enter her hive; but is a weevil

to be upset because the sun threatens to go out?〃 (7/27。)



He was no less curious concerning the resurrection of the sun; and every

time he made an excursion to the Ventoux he was careful not to miss this

spectacle; setting out at an early hour from the foot of the mountain; so

that he might see the dawn grow bright from the summit of its rocky mass;

then the sun; suddenly rising in the morning breeze; and setting fire;

little by little; to the Alps of Dauphiné and the hills of Comtat; and the

Rh?ne; far below; slender as a silver thread。



He took infinite pleasure too in drinking his fill of the sublime terrors

of the thunderstorm; which he regarded as one of the most magnificent

spectacles which nature can offer; not content with observing it through

glass; he would open wide the windows at night the better to enjoy the

phosphorescence of the atmosphere; the conflagration of the clouds; the

bursts of thunder; and all the solemn pomp with which the great purifying

phenomenon manifests itself。



But pure observation; as practised by his predecessors; Réaumur and Huber;

is often insufficient; or 〃furnishes only a glimpse of matters。〃



He had recourse; therefore; to artificial observation of the kind known as

experimentation; and we may say that Fabre was really the first to employ

the experimental method in the study of the minds of animals。



Near the field of observation; therefore; is the naturalist's workshop;

〃the animal laboratory;〃 in which such inductions as may be suggested by

the doings and the movements of the insects 〃which roam at liberty amidst

the thyme and lavender〃 are subjected to the test of experiment。 It is a

great; silent; isolated room; brilliantly lighted by two windows facing

south; upon the garden; one at least of which is always kept open that the

insects may come and go at liberty。



In the glass…topped boxes of pine which occupy almost the entire height of

the whitewashed walls are carefully arranged the collections so patiently

amassed; all the entomological fauna of the South of France; and the sea…

shells of the Mediterranean; an abundant wealth also of divers rarities;

numismatical treasures and fragments of pottery and other prehistorical

documents; of which the numerous ossuaries in the neighbourhood of

Sérignan; scattered here and there upon the hills; contain many specimens。



At the top; crowning the facade of glass…topped cases like an immense

frieze; is the colossal herbarium; the first volumes of which go back to

the early youth of their owner; all the flora; both of the Midi and the

North; those of the plains and those of the mountains; and all the algae of

fresh and salt water。



But it must not be supposed that Fabre attaches any great value to these

collections; enormous though the sum of labour which they represent。 To him

they have been a means of education; a means of organizing and arranging

his knowledge; and not of satisfying an idle curiosity; not the amusement

of one content with the rind of things。 In order to identify at first sight

such specimens as one encounters and proposes to examine; one must first of

all learn to observe and to see thoroughly; and to school the eyes in the

colours and forms peculiar to each individual species。



One may fairly complain of Réaumur; for example; that his knowledge was

uncertain and incomplete。 Too often he leaves his readers undecided as to

the nature of the species whose habits he describes。 Fabre himself; by dint

of criticizing with so much humour the abuse of classifications; has

sometimes allowed himself to fall into the same fault。 (7/28。) He has taken

good care; however; not to neglect the systematic study of species; witness

his 〃Flora of the Vaucluse〃 and that careful catalogue of Avignon which he

has not disdained to republish。 (7/29。) The truth is that 〃if we do not

know their names the knowledge of the things escapes us〃 (7/30。); and he

was profoundly conscious of the truth of this precept of the great

Linnaeus。



The

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