The Life of the Weevil 



if it ceases to prolong its shaft as soon as 

 it perceives, by sounding it now and again, 

 that the ceiling is thin enough, what ought 

 to happen under the present conditions? 

 Feeling that it is as near the surface as it 

 wishes to be, the grub will stop boring; it 

 will respect the last layer of the bare pea and 

 will thus obtain the indispensable defensive 

 screen. 



Nothing of the kind takes place. The 

 well is excavated entirely; its mouth is open 

 to the outside, as wide, as carefully finished 

 as though the skin of the pea were still 

 protecting it. Reasons of safety have in no 

 way modified the usual work. The foe can 

 enter this open lodging; the grub gives the 

 matter not a thought. 



Nor has it this in mind when it refrains 

 from boring right through the pea still clad 

 in its skin. It stops suddenly, because it 

 does not like the non-farinaceous skin. We 

 remove the skins before making our peas into 

 soup: they have no culinary value; they are 

 not good. The larva of the Bruchus appears 

 to be like ourselves : it hates the tough out- 

 side of the pea. Warned by the unpleasant 

 taste, it stops at the skin; and this aversion 

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