The Life of the Grasshopper 



unfurled. The Intervening spaces are 

 crossed by Innumerable tiny bars which make 

 of the whole a network of rectangular 

 meshes. The wing-case, which Is coarser and 

 much less expanded, repeats this structure in 

 squares. 



In neither case does any of the mesh show 

 during the rope's-end stage. All that we see 

 is a few wrinkles, a few winding furrows, 

 which tell us that the stumps are bundles of 

 cunningly folded material reduced to their 

 smallest volume. 



The expansion begins near the shoulder. 

 Where at first nothing definite was to be 

 distinguished, we soon see a diaphanous area 

 subdivided into meshes of exquisite pre- 

 cision. Little by little, with a slowness that 

 defies observation even through the magnlfy- 

 Ing-glass, this area increases in extent at the 

 expense of the shapeless terminal roll. My 

 eyes linger In vain on the confines of the two 

 portions, the roll developing and the gauze 

 already developed: I see nothing, see no 

 more than I should see in a sheet of water. 

 But wait a moment; and the tissue of squares 

 stands out with perfect clearness. 



If we judged only by this first examina- 

 tion, we should really think that an organ- 



414 



