The Glow-Worm and Other Beetles 



unguent employed by the grub that dreads 

 the Tachina. 



In the first rank of the animals protected 

 against the bite of the atmosphere without 

 the intervention of a handicraft are those 

 which go clad in hair, dressed free of cost in 

 fleeces, furs or pelts. Some of these natural 

 coats are magnificent, surpassing our downi- 

 est velvets in softness. 



Despite the progress of weaving, man is 

 still jealous of them. To-day, as in the ages 

 when he sheltered under a rock, he values 

 furs greatly for the winter. At all seasons 

 he holds them in high esteem as ornamental 

 accessories; he glories in sewing on his attire 

 a shred of some wretched flayed beast. The 

 ermine of kings and judges, the white rabbit- 

 tails with which the university graduate 

 adorns his left shoulder on solemn occasions 

 carry us back in thought to the age of the 

 cave-dwellers. 



Moreover, the fleecy animals still clothe 

 us in a less primitive fashion. Our woollens 

 are made of hairs interlaced. Ever since the 

 beginning, without hoping to find anything 

 better, man has clothed himself at the ex- 

 pense of the hairy orders of creation. 



The bird, a more active producer of heat, 

 448 



