The Glow- Worm and Other Beetles 



quarters with a dainty white rose, a kind of 

 hand with twelve fingers, not jointed, but 

 moving in every direction : tubular fingers 

 which do not seize, but sticlc. 



The same organ serves another purpose: 

 that of a toilet-sponge and brush. At a 

 moment of rest, after a meal, the Glow-worm 

 passes and repasses the said brush over his 

 head, back, sides and hinder-parts, a per- 

 formance made possible by the flexibility of 

 his spine. This is done point by point, from 

 one end of the body to the other, with a 

 scrupulous persistency that proves the great 

 interest which he takes in the operation. 

 What is his object in thus sponging himself, 

 in dusting and polishing himself so carefully? 

 It is a question, apparently, of removing a 

 few atoms of dust or else some traces of 

 viscidity that remain from the evil contact 

 with the snail. A wash and brush-up is not 

 superfluous when one leaves the tub in which 

 the mollusc has been treated. 



If the Glow-worm possessed no other 

 talent than that of chloroforming his prey 

 by means of a few tweaks resembling kisses, 

 he would be unknown to the vulgar herd; 

 but he also knows how to hght himself like 

 a beacon; he shines, which is an excellent 

 manner of achieving fame. Let us consider 

 i6 



