PACKARD.] ESrSECTS OF TIIE FOREST. 243 



noticed. The limb which he cuts off is sometimes only a 

 foot in length and is, consequently, quite light ; sometimes 

 ten feet long, loaded with leaves, and very heavy. A man 

 by carefully inspecting the length of the limb, the size of its 

 branches, and the amount of foliage growing upon them, 

 could judge how far it should be severed to insure its being 

 afterwards broken by the winds. But this worm is impris- 

 oned in a dark cell only an inch or two long, in the interior 

 of the limb. How is it possible for this creature, therefore, 

 to know the length and weight of the limb, and how far it 

 should be cut asunder? A man, moreover, on cutting a 

 number of limbs of different lengths so far that they will be 

 broken by the winds, will find that he has often miscalcu- 

 lated, and that several of the limbs do not break off as he 

 designed they should. This little Avorm, however, never 

 makes a mistake of this kind. If the limb be short, it 

 severs all the woody fibres, leaving it hanging only by the 

 outer bark. If it be longer, a few of the woody fibres on 

 its upper side are left uncut in addition to the bark. If it 

 be very long and heavy, not more than three-fourths of the 

 wood will be severed." 



"Having cut the limb asunder so far that he supposes it 

 will break with the next wind which arises, the worm with- 

 draws himself into his burrow, and that he may not be 

 stunned and drop therefrom should the limb strike the earth 

 with violence when it falls, he closes the opening behind him 

 by inserting therein a wad formed of elastic fibres of wood. 

 He now feeds at his leisure upon the pith of the main limb, 

 hereby extending his burrow up this limb six or twelve 

 inches or more, until he attains his full growth, quietly 

 awaiting the fall of the liml), and his descent therein to the 

 ground. It is quite probable that he does not always sever 

 the limb sufficiently in the first instance for it to break and 

 fall. Having cut it so much as he deems prudent, he with- 

 draws and commences feeding upon the pith of the limb 



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