The Foamy Cicadella 



pery? Can she be drawing on certain vessels 

 whose sap, not yet elaborated, has not ac- 

 quired its final virulence? The delicate 

 vegetable anatomy is helpless in the presence 

 of the tiny creature's pump. I give up the 

 problem. 



When the Cicadella is exploring the 

 spurge, as frequently happens, she has a seri- 

 ous reason for not admitting to her fountain 

 all that would be yielded by simple bleeding, 

 such as my needle would produce. The milky 

 juice of the plant would be fatal to her. 



I gather a drop or two of the liquid that 

 trickles from a cut stalk and instal a Cica- 

 della in it. The insect is not comfortable : 

 I can see this by its efforts to escape. My 

 hair-pencil pushes the fugitive back into the 

 pool of milk, rich in dissolved rubber. Soon 

 this rubber settles into clots similar to crumbs 

 of cheese; the insect's legs become clad in 

 gaiters that seem made of casein; a coating 

 of gum obstructs the breathing-valves; possi- 

 bly also the extremely delicate skin is hurt 

 by the blistering qualities of the milky sap. 

 If kept for some time in that environment, 

 the Cicadella dies. 



Even so would she die if her gimlet, work- 

 ing simply as a needle, brought the milk of 



441 



