The universe, or, The infinitely great and the infinitely little / by F.A. Pouchet.
- Félix Archimède Pouchet
- Date:
- [1895]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The universe, or, The infinitely great and the infinitely little / by F.A. Pouchet. Source: Wellcome Collection.
131/596 page 107
![generally mixed with sand and portions of wool or silk, making the feet of the insect clumsy and misshapen, and giving the whole body a very singular look. The Eeduvius, nevertheless, is of a very slender form; but to appreciate this one must give it a brush. In its disguise it moves very slowly as u overloaded by the weight of its accoutrements, in order to take its prey by surprise. But when it has thrown off its garment and acquired its wings, it becomes active, and we then see it gaining its livelihood m open view. When an enemy little to be dreaded sneaks into a hive of bees, the first sentinels that see it pierce it with their stings, and in the twinkling 76. Young of the Reduvius personatus; the one covered with its tatters of dust and spider-threads, the other freed from these by brushing. of an eye eject the corpse from the common dwelling. The work is not interrupted by such an event. But if the aggressor be a strong and heavy slug, matters go differently. A general agitation seizes the workers, each one gets ready his weapon, whirls round the invader, and pierces it with his dart. Assailed with fury, wounded on all sides, and poisoned by the venom, the creeping animal dies in violent contortions. But what is to be done with such a weighty foe] The little feet of all the tribe would not suffice to stir the corpse, and the narrow door of the hive would not allow it to pass. Its putrid exhalations would, however, soon infect the colony, and develop the germ of some malady. How are they to escape from this dilemma 1 The republic take counsel, and come suddenly to just such a resolu- tion as they would have done if they had thoroughly known one of the arts of ancient Egypt. As under the Pharaohs men embalmed the corpses of animals, either with a religious view or to preserve themselves from their pestilential emanations, so all the bees now set to work to embalm the dead animal, the presence of which is a menace to them.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21500289_0137.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
