The Nut-Weevil 



this will be so indefinitely, until our country 

 schools yield the place of honour to cheerful, 

 invigorating studies in the fields. 



Let us replace these inanities by the 

 reality. The grub is certainly an outsider, 

 an invader; and, if it has made its way in, 

 this is because it has found a passage some- 

 where. Let us look for this passage, which 

 escaped us at the first examination, with the 

 aid of a magnifying-glass. 



The search does not take long. The base 

 of the nut displays a wide, rough, light- 

 coloured depression, to which the cup was 

 fastened. On the confines of this area, a 

 little way outside it, is a darker speck. This 

 is the entrance to the stronghold; this is the 

 key to the riddle. 



The rest follows without further enquiry 

 and is very clearly interpreted by the data 

 provided by the Elephant Weevil. The 

 Nut-weevil also bears a buccal drill, still in- 

 ordinately long, but this time slightly curved. 



I can well imagine the insect, like its re- 

 lative of the acorns, standing erect on the 

 tripod formed by the tip of its wing-covers 

 and the hinder tarsi; it assumes a posture 

 worthy of portrayal by a fantastic pencil; it 



