The Glow-Worm 



fest without this clumsy midwifery, A soft 

 opalescent light shines through the skin of 

 the belly. 



The hatching follows soon after the lay- 

 ing. The young of either sex have two lit- 

 tle rush-lights on the last segment. At the 

 approach of the severe weather, they go 

 down into the ground, but not very far. In 

 my rearing-jars, which are supplied with fine 

 and very loose earth, they descend to a depth 

 of three or four inches at most, I dig up a 

 few in mid-winter. I always find them car- 

 rying their faint stern-light. About the 

 month of April, they come up again to the 

 surface, there to continue and complete their 

 evolution. 



From start to finish, the Glow-worm's life 

 is one great orgy of light. The eggs are 

 luminous; the grubs likewise. The full- 

 grown females are magnificent light-houses, 

 the adult males retain the glimmer which the 

 grubs already possessed. We can under- 

 stand the object of the feminine beacon; but 

 of what use is all the rest of the pyrotechnic 

 display? To my great regret, I cannot tell. 

 It is and will be, for many a day to come, per- 

 haps for all time, the secret of animal physics, 

 which is deeper than the physics of the books. 



27 



