The Life of the Weevil 



length by ten in width. ^ Its compact 

 structure almost enables it to resist the 

 pressure of the fingers. Its main diameter 

 runs parallel with the axis of the thistle-head. 

 When, as is not unusual, three cells are 

 grouped on the same support, the whole is 

 not unlike the fruit of the castor-oil-plant, 

 with its three shaggy husks. 



The outer wall of the cell is a rustic bristle 

 of chips and hairy debris and above all of 

 whole florets, faded and yellow, torn from 

 their base and pushed out of place while 

 retaining their natural arrangement. In the 

 thickness of the wall the cement predomi- 

 nates. The inner wall is polished, washed 

 with a red-brown lacquer and sprinkled with 

 an incrustation of ligneous fragments. 

 Lastly, the pitch is of excellent quaUty. It 

 makes a solid wall of the work; and, more- 

 over, it is impervious to moisture: when 

 immersed in water, the cell does not permit 

 any to pass through to the interior. 



In short, the Larinus' cell is a comfortable 

 dwelling, endowed, in the beginning, with the 

 phancy of soft leather, which allows free 

 scope for the growing-process; then, thanks 



3.585 by .39 inch. — Translator's Note. 

 46 



