THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 215 



by gnawing those of the pine. Its caterpillar, which is very 

 small, being introduced beneath the scales of the bud? 

 gnaws a part of it in such a way that the stalk, warped at 

 the very core, loses its straightness, twists, and becomes de- 

 formed. We can see from a distance when these artisans 

 have assailed a part of a wood, by the strange aspect which 

 the tops of the trees present. All the terminal buds are 

 more or less bent and contorted, instead of possessing their 

 normal direction. It is to this result that the species owes 

 its name of pine-twister, by which the foresters generally 

 designate it. 



Some destroyers, instead of this openly declared war, 

 carry on their assaults silently and in the shade ; these are 

 concealed enemies, which nothing can track out, and we 

 have frequently no suspicion of their presence till they 

 have slain their victim. Some live on wood, and hollow out 

 ample tortuous galleries in it, which very speedily modify 

 the organism of the tree so profoundly that the strongest 

 succumb to it. Others work between the bark and the sap- 

 wood, using up materials that offer less resistance to their 

 teeth. 



In the former category must be placed the Cossi, those 

 skilful carpenters of which we have already made mention. 

 In the second category may be ranked the numerous legion 

 of insects which ornament the surface of wood in a deplora- 

 ble manner with chisellings that roughly resemble printing, 

 writing with chalk, or in short-hand. Each species in- 

 variably draws the same design, so that we can always dis- 

 cover who our enemy is by his work, without seeing him. 



Almost all these laborers are beetles of very small size, 



