'S NOTE

This is the second volume on Beetles in the complete English edition
of Henri Fabre's entomological works. The first is entitled _The
Sacred Beetle and Others_; the second and the third will be known as
_The Life of the Weevil_ and _More Beetles_ respectively.

_The Glow-worm_, which gives its name to the present book, did not
form part of the _Souvenirs entomologiques_ as originally published.
It is one of two essays written specially, at my request, for
translation into English, towards the close of Henri Fabre's life; in
fact, this and _The Ant-lion_, a short essay for children, were the
last works that came from the veteran author's pen. _The Glow-worm_
appeared first in the _Century Magazine_. Of the remaining chapters,
several have appeared in various periodicals, notably the _English
Review_ and in _Land and Water_, the editor and proprietors of which
admirable weekly have shown the most enlightened interest in Fabre's
work.

A part of the chapter entitled _The Dung-beetles of the Pampas_
figures in Messrs. Adam & Charles Black's volume, _The Life and Love
of the Insect_ (New York: the Macmillan Co.), translated by myself;
and the chapters on the Capricorn and Burying-beetles will be found in
Mr. T. Fisher Unwin's volume, _The Wonders of Instinct_ (New York: the
Century Co.), translated by myself and Mr. Bernard Miall, which also
contains _The Glow-worm_. These chapters are included in the present
edition by consent of and arrangement with the publishers named.

Lastly, Mr. Bernard Miall has earned my gratitude by the valuable
assistance which he has given me in preparing the translation of the
greater part of this volume.

ALEXANDER TEIXEIRA DE MATTOS.

CHELSEA, _5 September_, 1919.

CHAPTER I
THE GLOW-WORM

Few insects in our climes vie in popular fame with the Glow-worm, that
curious little animal which, to celebrate the little joys of life,
kindles a beacon at its tail-end. Who does not know it, at least by
name? Who has not seen it roam amid the grass, like a spark fallen
from the moon at its full? The Greeks of old called it [Greek:
lampouris], meaning, the bright-tailed. Science employs the same term:
it calls the lantern-bearer, _Lampyris noctiluca_, LIN. In this case,
the common name is inferior to the scientific phrase, which, when
translated, becomes both expressive and accurate.

In fact, we might easily cavil at the word "worm." The Lampyris is not
a worm at all, not e