His philosophical position may be briefly stated to be a determined refusal to recognise evolution as a legitimate idea. In this we may think him wrong; but it must be admitted that his views form a valuable antithesis to those of the many evolutionists who take the position that all that remains for the naturalist to do is to repeat the words Natural Selection and variation, and declare that thereby we understand the Cosmos.
Fabre is a difficult writer to translate. Probably no one has ever written on this subject with equal brilliancy and vivacity. But he is the most Gallic of Frenchmen. If his words are literally translated, they scarcely make English; if freely translated, the charm of his diction is too easily missed.
We hope that this volume may induce the student to read Fabre’s subsequent volumes.[1] Taken [[7]]altogether they are, if not superior, at least not inferior to this one—preferred simply because it is the first of the series.
In his works there is a good deal of delightful autobiography. Starting as a child amidst the direst poverty, he has become a highly accomplished man, a great naturalist, a brilliant writer; and he has done this with a complete contempt for money, and a great indifference to the other rewards that Society is ready to bestow for such work.
D. SHARP.
Cambridge, 20th August 1901. [[ix]]
[1] Souvenirs Entomologiques (Ch. Delagrave, 15 Rue Soufflot, Paris), of which there are now seven series, this volume being a translation of the first. [↑]