That most fascinating of all entomological writers, J. H. Fabre, made some observations on a tarantula of southern France which well deserve attention. Colonies of the spider were numerous in his neighbourhood, and he set himself to procure some specimens. Old writers assert that if a straw be inserted into the burrow the spider will seize it and hold it so firmly that it may be drawn forth. Fabre found this method exciting, but uncertain in its results. Another plan which had been advocated was to approach warily and cut off the retreat of a spider by plunging the blade of a knife into the soil below it and so cutting off its retreat, but this required very rapid action, and was, moreover, apt to be prevented by the presence of stones in the soil. He devised a new scheme. He provided himself with a number of “bumble” bees in narrow glass tubes—about the width of the spider burrows. Repairing to a tarantula colony he would present the open end of the tube to the mouth of a burrow. The liberated bee, seeing a hole in the ground exactly suitable for its own purposes, would enter it with very little hesitation. There would be a loud buzz and then instant silence. Inserting a pair of forceps into the hole, Fabre would then withdraw the bee with the spider clinging tenaciously to it. In all cases the death of the bee was instantaneous, though the closest examination of its dead body revealed no wound. Now Fabre was fresh from his wonderful studies of the habits of the solitary wasps, which provide their young with insects stung in such a way as to cause paralysis but not death. In their case the problem was to secure food for their larvae which should remain fresh for many days, an instinct taught them to solve it in the most remarkable manner. The problem of the spider was different. It was a case of killing instantly, or being killed; a merely wounded bee is as formidable as one unharmed. What Fabre desired to know was this: did the spider trust to one invariable deadly stroke in dealing with the bee, as the solitary wasp, according to its species, had been found to act always precisely in the same way in paralysing its victim? To settle this point the spider must be seen at work, and the obvious plan seemed to be to enclose a bee and a tarantula in a glass vessel and see what would happen. But nothing happened at all. The spider, away from its burrow, refused to attack. The equally matched antagonists treated each other with the greatest respect and only evinced a desire to keep as far apart as possible. Even when placed in the same tube both acted on the defensive, and no light was thrown on the problem.