The Nut-Weevil 



efforts, to clear the disproportionately nar- 

 row passage. 



What happens inside the nut escapes me: 

 it is hidden by the opaque shell; what I see 

 outside is very simple and tells me of that 

 which cannot be seen. The creature's blood 

 rushes from back to front; the humours of 

 the organism change their position and accu- 

 mulate in the part that has already emerged, 

 which swells into a dropsy, attaining five or 

 six times the diameter of the head. 



In this way a large cushion is formed on 

 the kerb of the well, a girdle of energy 

 which, by its dilatation and its intrinsic 

 elasticity, gradually extricates the remaining 

 segments, which are diminished In volume by 

 the shifting of their fluid contents. 



It is a slow and very laborious business. 

 The grub, In its free part, bends, draws It- 

 self up and sways from side to side. We do 

 the same when forcing a nail from side to 

 side to extract it from Its socket. The man- 

 dibles gape widely, close and gape again, 

 with no intention of laying hold. These 

 movements represent the yo-heave-hoes with 

 which the exhausted creature accompanies Its 

 129 



