-entered,
mounted, descended, came and went, always in the neighbourhood of the
window, not far from which was the chair on which the twig lay. None
made for the large table, on which, a few steps further from the window,
the female awaited them in the wire-gauze cover. They hesitated, that
was plain; they were still seeking.

Finally they found. And what did they find? Simply the twig, which that
morning had served the ample matron as bed. Their wings rapidly
fluttering, they alighted on the foliage; they explored it over and
under, probed it, raised it, and displaced it so that the twig finally
fell to the floor. None the less they continued to probe between the
leaves. Under the buffets and the draught of their wings and the
clutches of their eager feet the little bundle of leaves ran along the
floor like a scrap of paper patted by the paws of a cat.

While the twig was sliding away with its band of investigators two new
arrivals appeared. The chair lay in their path. They stopped at it and
searched eagerly at the very spot on which the twig had been lying. But
with these, as with the others, the real object of their desires was
there, close by, under a wire cover which was not even veiled. None took
any note of it. On the floor, a handful of butterflies were still
hustling the bunch of leaves on which the female had reposed that
morning; others, on the chair, were still examining the spot where the
twig had lain. The sun sank, and the hour of departure struck. Moreover,
the emanations were growing feebler, were evaporating. Without more ado
the visitors left. We bade them goodbye till the morrow.

The following tests showed me that the leaf-covered twig which
accidentally enlightened me might be replaced by any other substance.
Some time before the visitors were expected I placed the female on a bed
of cloth or flannel, card or paper. I even subjected her to the rigours
of a camp-bed of wood, glass, marble, and metal. All these objects,
after a contact of sufficient duration, had the same attraction for the
males as the female moth herself. They retained this property for a
longer or shorter time, according to their nature. Cardboard, flannel,
dust, sand, and porous objects retained it longest. Metals, marble, and
glass, on the contrary, quickly lost their efficacy. Finally, anything
on which the female had rested communicated its virtues by contact;
witness the butterflies crowding on the straw-bottomed chair aft