THE GLOW-WORM 



captives' mouths. The Glow-worm does not eat in the 

 strict sense of the word; he merely drinks. He feeds 

 on a thin gruel, into which he transforms his prey. Like 

 the flesh-eating grub of the Fly, he can digest his food 

 before he swallows it; he turns his prey into liquid 

 before feeding on it. 



This is how things happen. A Snail has been made 

 insensible by a Glow-worm, who is nearly always alone, 

 even when the prize is a large one like the Common Snail. 

 Soon a number of guests hasten up^two, three, or more 

 — and, without any quarrel with the real owner, all alike 

 fall to. A couple of days later, if I turn the shell so 

 that the opening is downwards, the contents flow out like 

 soup from a saucepan. By the time the meal is finished 

 only insignificant remains are left. 



The matter is obvious. By repeated tiny bites, similar 

 to the tweaks which we saw administered at the begin- 

 ning, the flesh of the Snail is converted into a gruel on 

 which the various guests nourish themselves each in his 

 own way, each working at the broth by means of some 

 special pepsine (or digestive fluid) , and each taking his 

 own m.outhfuls of it. The use of this method shows that 

 the Glow-worm's mouth must be very feebly armed, apart 

 from the two fangs which sting the patient and inject 

 the poison. No doubt these fangs at the same time in- 



[61] 



