108 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. 



worms oiitot'the s;iiuu luercifuluess from which they feed 

 the vixeuish sparrows who refuse to kill the worms." 



''A truce to our moralizing," I said ; '' let us return 

 to our span-worm hanging from the tree. The manner 

 in which it ascends its thread is most interesting. In 

 order to do this it bends back its head and catches hold 

 of the thread above its head with one of the legs of the 

 third segment of the body. It then raises its head and 

 seizes the thread with its jaws and forelegs, and by 

 repeating the same operations with tolerable rapidity it 

 soon reaches its former station on the tree. 



There is another interesting habit which these Geom- 

 eters possess ; when not eating, many of them can rest 

 on the two hindermost pairs of legs against the side of a 

 l)ranch, and stretching out the body nearly horizontal!}', 

 remain in that position for hours, so that they might easily 

 be mistaken for the twig of a tree. If Joe and Harry 

 would like to get some slight idea of the muscular force 

 required to perform this action, let them grasp an up- 

 right pole with their hands and try to hold the body 

 out horizontally. The feats of trained gymnasts in the 

 circus ring or turnverein are fairly outdone by these 

 despised s2)an-worms. I think that you will agree with 

 me that they are interesting little fellows. Moreover, 

 notwithstanding the disgust with which, as the Mistress 

 sajs, the city folk used to regard them as they dropped 

 from the trees, I venture that there are plenty of people 

 who would rather welcome their presence than other- 

 wise. Perhaps some of our young people can tell us 

 why V" 



