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cannot move; its mandibles; 〃pointed; sharp; serrated; which close like a

pair of scissors; still remain a menace to the tyrant; they might at least;

by gripping the surrounding grasses; oppose a more or less effectual

resistance to the process of carrying off。〃 So the preceding manoeuvres are

consummated by a kind of garrotting; that is; the insect 〃takes care to

compress the brain of its victim; but so as to avoid wounding it; producing

only a stupor; a simple torpor; a passing lethargy。〃 Is not the ingenious

observer justified in concluding that 〃this is alarmingly scientific〃?



Between the dry statements of Dufour; which served Fabre as his original

theme; and the unaccustomed wealth of this vast physiological poetry; what

a distance has been covered!



How far have we outstripped this barren matter; these shapeless sketches!

Dufour; another solitary; who retired to his province; in the depth of the

Landes; was above all a descriptive anatomist; and he limited himself to an

inventory of the nest of a Cerceris。



For him the Buprestes were dead; and their state of preservation was

explained simply as a kind of embalming; due to some special action of the

venom of the Hymenoptera。



These facts; therefore; were stated as simple curiosities。



Fabre proved that these victims possessed all the attributes of life

excepting movement; by provoking contractions in their members under the

influence of various stimulants; and by keeping them alive artificially for

an indefinite period。



On the other hand; he demonstrated the comparative innocuousness of the

venom of these wasps; some of which; like the great Cerceris or the

beautiful and formidable Scolia; alarm by their enormous size and their

terrifying aspect; so that the conservation of the prey could not be due to

any occult quality; to some more or less active antiseptic virtue of the

venomous fluid; but simply to the precision of the stab and the miraculous

deftness of the 〃surgeon。〃



He also pointed out the fact that the sting of the insect is able

immediately to dissociate the nervous system of the vegetative life from

that of the correlative life; sparing the former; and taking care not to

wound the abdomen; which contains the ganglions of the great sympathetic

nerve; while it annihilates the latter; which is more or less concentrated

along the ventral face of the thoracic region。



He completed this splendid demonstration; not only by provoking under his

own eyes the 〃murderous manoeuvres; the intimate and passionate drama;〃 but

also by reproducing experimentally all these astonishing phenomena;

expounding their mechanism and their variations with a logic and lucidity;

an art and sagacity which raise this marvellous observation; one of the

most beautiful known to science; to the height of the most immortal

discoveries of physiology。 Claude Bernard; in his celebrated experiments;

certainly exhibited no greater invention; no truer genius。





CHAPTER 8。 THE MIRACLE OF INSTINCT。



〃The Spirit Bloweth Whither it Listeth。〃



What is this instinct; which guides the insect to such marvellous results?

Is it merely a degree of intelligence; or some absolutely different form of

activity?



Is it possible; by studying the habits of animals; to discover some of

those elementary springs of action whose knowledge would enable us to dive

more deeply into our own natures?



Fabre has presented us to his Sphex; the 〃infallible paralyser。〃 Are we to

credit her not only with memory; but also with the faculty of associating

ideas; of judgment; and of pursuing a train of reasoning in respect of her

astonishingly co…ordinated actions?



Put to the question by the malice of the operator; the 〃transcendent〃

anatomist trips over a mere trifle; and the slightest novelty confounds

her。



Without the circle of her ordinary habits; what stupidity; 〃what darkness

wraps her round〃! She retreats; she refuses to understand; 〃she washes her

eyes; first passing her hands across her mouth; she assumes a dreamy;

meditative air。〃 What can she be pondering? Under what form of thought;

illusion; or mirage does the unfamiliar problem which has obtruded itself

into her customary life present itself behind those faceted eyes? (8/1。)



How can we tell? We can only attain to knowledge of ourselves by direct

intuition。 It is only the idea of our ego which enables us to conjecture

what is passing in the brains of our fellows。 Between the insect and

ourselves no understanding is possible; so remote are the analogies between

its organization and our own; and we can only form idle hypotheses as to

its states of consciousness and the real motive of its actions。



Consider only that unknown and mysterious energy which the insects display

in their operations and their labours; as it is in itself; and let us

content ourselves; first of all; with comparing it to our own intelligence;

such as we conceive it to be。



In seeking to appreciate whereby it differs perhaps we shall gain more than

by vainly seeking points of resemblance。 We shall discover; in fact; behind

the insect and its prodigious instincts; a vast and remote horizon; a

region at once more profound; more extensive; and more fruitful than that

of the intelligence; and if Fabre is able to help us to decipher a few

pages of 〃the most difficult of all volumes; the book of ourselves;〃 it is

precisely; as a philosopher told him; because 〃man has remained instinctive

in process of becoming intelligent。〃 (8/2。)



The work of Fabre is from this point of view an invaluable treasury of

observations and experiments; and the richest contribution which has ever

been made to the study of these fascinating problems。



〃The function of the intelligence is to reflect; to be conscious; that is;

to relate the effect to its cause; to add a 〃because〃 to a 〃why〃; to remedy

the accidental; to adapt a new course of conduct to new circumstances。〃



In relation to the human intelligence thus defined Fabre has considered

these nervous aptitudes; so well adjusted; according to the evolutionists;

by ancient habit; that they have finally become impulsive and unconscious;

and; properly speaking; innate。 He has demonstrated; with an abundance of

proof and a power of argument that we must admire; the blind mechanism

which determines all the manifestations; even the most extraordinary; of

that which we call instinct; and which heredity has fixed in a species of

unchangeable automatism; like the rhythm of the heart and the lungs。 (8/3。)



Let us; from this wealth of material; from among the most suggestive

examples; select some of his most striking demonstrations; which are

classics of their kind。



Fabre has not attempted to define instinct; for it is indefinable; nor to

probe its essential nature; which is impenetrable。 But to recognize the

order of nature is in itself a sufficiently fascinating study; without

striving to crack an unbreakable bone or wasting time in pondering

insoluble enigmas。 The important matter is to avoid the introduction of

illusions; to beware of exceeding the data of observation and experiment;

of substituting our own inferences for the facts; of outstripping reality

and amplifying the marvellous。



Let us listen to the scrupulous analysis whose lessons; scattered through

four thousand pages; teach us more concerning instinct and its innumerable

variations than all the most learned treatises and speculations of the

philosophers。



Nothing in the world perplexes the mind of the observer like the spectacle

of the birth and growth of the instincts。



At precisely the right moment; just as failure or disaster seems

foreordained by the previously established circumstances; Fabre shows us

his insects as suddenly mastered by an irresistible force。



〃At the right moment〃 they invincibly obey some sort of mysterious and

inflexible prescription。 Without apprenticeship; they perform the very

actions required; and blindly accomplish their destiny。



Then; the moment having passed; the instincts 〃disappear and do not

reawaken。 A few days more or less modify the talents; and what the young

insect knew the adult has often forgotten。〃 (8/4。)



Among the Lycosae; at the moment of exodus; a sudden instinct is evolved

which a few hours later disappears never to return。 It is the climbing

instinct; unknown to the adult spider; and soon forgotten by the

emancipated young; who are destined to roam upon the face of the earth。 But

the young Lycosae; anxious to leave the maternal home and to travel; become

suddenly ardent climbers and aeronauts; each releasing a long; light thread

which serves it as parachute。 The voyage accomplished; no trace of this

ingenuity is left。 Suddenly acquired; the climbing instinct no less

suddenly disappears。 (8/5。)



The great historiographer of instinct has thrown a wonderful light; by his

beautiful experiments relatin

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