The mother of the Gracchi has been well advertised because she
preferred her sons to jewelry. The Russian mother who feeds
herself to the wolves, instead of throwing her boy over the back
of the sleigh in the usual way, is also highly praised. But
their devotion shrinks to nothing when compared with that of any
poor mother scorpion of Mexico's sandy tracts.
As soon as her young scorpions arrive, they climb to her back,
half a hundred of them or more. She moves about with them,
protecting them, avoiding danger, giving them the sunlight.
Meanwhile they are feeding on her body. Her movements get
gradually slower and slower; finally they cease. The young
scorpions depart leaving the mother scorpion simply an empty
shell. We should dislike to see any such exhibition of
tenderness among human beings, but we can't help admiring the
scorpion.
Mr. Scorpion, placed as was Captain Dreyfus, would sting himself
to death. They are a determined race. ----
Spiders who construct tiny balloons with little cars all complete
are wonderful creatures. They cross chasms in their balloons,
throwing out bits of trailing web which seem to act as rudders.
In their little way and in a perfectly adequate fashion they have
solved aerial navigation, which still puzzles us.
Pages:
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113