The writer resolves to attempt an explanation of the Insect World, 36 For such a task Fontainebleau offers peculiar facilities, 37 A description is given of the characteristics of the place, 38 It has had a peculiar charm for many illustrious men, 41 Its individuality is distinct, 42 In the course of a day it presents various changes, 43 Yet throughout all a certain sameness is preserved, 44 This is expressed by the "genius loci,", 45 The voices of the forest, 46 Its suitability as a place for reflection, 47 Its suggestiveness; the very oaks enforce a lesson of perseverance, 48 Its life centres in its quarrymen and its ants, 49 The contrast between their several labours, 50 Nature and the Individual, 51 The writer enters upon the composition of the present book, 52 BOOK THE FIRST.--METAMORPHOSIS. CHAPTER I.--TERROR AND REPUGNANCE IN CHILDHOOD. Extract from a Journal written by Madame Michelet, 57 In which she describes a visit to the home of her childhood, 58 Painful impressions produced by the ravages of the insect, 59 The writer comments on the repugnance with which the insect is viewed by childhood, 60 This repugnance is not shared by Nature, 61 Which protects and facilitates it in its work, 62 On account of its vast importance, 63 CHAPTER II.--COMPASSION. The artist Gros reproached a young man for cruelty towards a butterfly, 67 Lyonnet, the naturalist, equally insisted on tenderness towards even the lowest forms of life, 68 The writer records his adventure with a drone, which he thought he had killed, in a moment of petulance, 69 His happiness on seeing the insect revive, 70 Begins to study the insect seriously on a Swiss tour, 70 Another extract from Madame Michelet's Journal, 71 In which is described the author's retreat at Montreux, on the shore of the Lake of Geneva, 72 In one of her walks she observes a combat between a stag-beetle and a beetle of inferior size, 73 The stag-beetle is captured for the purpose of examination, 73 Effect produced upon it by the vapour of ether, 74 Regret expressed at having terminated its existence, 75 CHAPTER III.--WORLD-BUILDERS. The world _outside_ the terrestrial world, 79 The world of the infinitely little; the architects of ocean, 80 The immense works accomplished by the lower organisms, 81 They build up reefs, banks, islands, 82 The manufacture of chalk described, 83 How a coral-island is gradually developed, 83, 84 Examples of the labours of the coral animals, 85 CHAPTER IV.--LOVE AND DEATH.