Note 19 — Chapter XIX · FABRE’S WRITINGS

But there is something even more remarkable than this penetration and certainty of analysis; it is the prudence with which he goes forward step by step, without leaving anything vague or doubtful; the reserve with which he pronounces upon all that goes beyond the obvious meaning of the facts; the frankness and modesty with which he admits that he hesitates or does not know. It often happens that this scrupulous spirit leads to doubt. “The more I observe and experiment, the more I feel rising before me, in the cloudy blackness of the possible, a vast note of interrogation.” We might even find that on certain occasions the fear of going astray has caused him to limit to excess the range of his interpretation. But this is done only to give greater weight to his assertions, wherever they are expressed firmly and with quiet assurance. In short, there is reason to subscribe to the flattering judgment of his first biographer, who sees in the Souvenirs not only the most wonderful entomological repertory, but a true “essay upon method,” which should be read by every naturalist, and the most interesting, instructive, familiar, and delightful course of training that has ever been known.19