[Footnote 2: It is not easy to understand why the Mantis should paralyse the cricket with terror while the latter will immediately escape when threatened by other enemies. As many species of Mantis exactly mimic sticks and leaves when motionless for purposes of defence, is it not possible that they mimic their surroundings for purposes of offence as well? It is easy and natural to say that the Mantis presents a terrifying aspect. It does to us, by association; but how can we say that it represents anything of the sort to the probably hypnotic or automatic consciousness of the cricket? What does it really represent, as seen from below? A twig, terminating in a bud, with two branching twigs growing from it, and a harmless nondescript fly or butterfly perched on the back of it. The combination of a familiar sight and a threatening sound would very plausibly result in cautious immobility. As for its instantaneous assumption of the pose, to move instantaneously is the next best thing to not moving at all. It is less likely to startle than a slow movement. Twigs which have been bent get suddenly released in the natural course of events; they do not move slowly. The instantaneous appearance of a twig where no twig was before may possibly give the victim pause; it may halt out of caution, not out of terror.--[TRANS.]] [Footnote 3: The word "butterfly" is here used, as is the French _papillon_, as a general term for all Lepidoptera; the insect in question is of course a moth.] [Footnote 4: Now classified as _Lasiocampa quercus_.--[TRANS.]] [Footnote 5: _Rabasso_ is the Provencal name for the truffle; hence a truffle-hunter is known as a _rabassier_.] [Footnote 6: Since these lines were written I have found it consuming one of the true tuberaceae, the _Tuber Requienii_, Tul., of the size of a cherry.] [Footnote 7: The difficulty in conceiving this theory lies in the fact that the waves travel in straight lines. On the other hand, matter in a state of degradation may expel particles highly energised and of enormous velocity. Most antennae are covered with hairs of inconceivable fineness; others may contain cavities of almost infinite minuteness. Is it not thinkable that they are able to detect, in the gaseous atmosphere, floating particles that are not gaseous? This would not prevent the specialisation of antennae as mere feelers in some insects and crustaceans. The difficulty of such a supposition lies in the fact of discrimination; but if we did not possess a sense of taste or smell discrimination would seem inconceivable in their case also.--[TRANS.]] [Footnote 8: This classification is now superseded; the Pea and Bean Weevils--_Bruchus pisi_ and _Bruchus lenti_--are classed as Bruchidae, in the series of Phytophaga. Most of the other weevils are classed as Curculionidae, series Rhyncophora.--[TRANS.]] [Footnote 9: The Christmas number (_Noel_) of the _Annales politiques et litteraires: Les Enfants juges par leurs peres_, 1901.]