FABRE'S BOOK OF INSECTS 



and the skill of the methods they employ. They are so 

 tiny that while I observe them through my magnifying 

 glass I must be careful not to breathe, lest I should over- 

 turn them or puif them away. Yet this speck is expert in 

 the art of blanket-making. An orphan, born but a 

 moment ago, it knows how to cut itself a garment out of 

 its mother's old clothes. Of its methods I will tell you 

 more presently, but first I must say another word with 

 regard to its dead mother. 



I have spoken of the downy quilting that covers the in- 

 side of the chrysalid bag. It is like a bed of eider-down, 

 on which the little Caterpillars rest for a while after leav- 

 ing the egg. Warmly nestling in this soft rug they pre- 

 pare themselves for their plunge into the outer world of 

 work. 



The Eider robs herself of her down to make a luxurious 

 bed for her brood; the mother Rabbit shears from her own 

 body the softest part of her fur to provide a mattress for 

 her new-born family. And the same thing is done by the 

 Psyche. 



The mass of soft wadding that makes a warm coverlet 

 for the baby Caterpillar is a material of incomparable 

 delicacy. Through the microscope it can be recognised as 

 the scaly dust, the intensely fine down in which every 

 Moth is clad. To give a snug shelter to the little grubs 

 who will soon be swarming in the case, to provide them 



[lOO] 



