A Struggle with the Web-worm 



the waysides, otherwise so beautiful with 

 their wild vines and tangle of bushes. 



Moreover, for the pedestrian the mul- The worm 

 tiplication of caterpillars is a distress the side- 

 yearly more and more appalling. After w 

 the worm has eaten his fill he sets forth 

 upon his peregrinations, to find a shel- 

 tered spot where he can become a hermit 

 in a cell, until such time as his resurrec- 

 tion as a moth is in order, and you are 

 obliged to meet him on his winding way 

 at every turn in your path. Country side- 

 walks swarm with the wretches; verandas 

 are their especial delight ; you gather a 

 flower, a caterpillar is crawling up the 

 stem ; examine your trees of all sorts, the 

 brutes are making of their trunks a public 

 promenade, up which they hurry at top 

 speed to make a cocoon in the branches ; 

 would you rest yourself upon a bench, 

 the caterpillar is there before you ; if you 

 wear a thin gown, you may have the plea- 

 sure of viewing through its meshes the 

 wriggling, hairy form of your enemy, just 

 where you cannot get at him. He makes 

 himself at home amid the flowers of your 

 bonnet, he swings down upon a silken 

 107 



