64 CHAPTER VIII. 



maritima), the Cork Oak (Q. Suber), the Ilex Oak 

 (Q. Ilex], the Arbutus or the Bay (Laurus nobilis), it 

 is the form of arborescent vegetation which con- 

 tributes most to the wooding of the hills and to the 

 character of the landscape. 



The peasants damage and disfigure this tree by 

 cutting off the branches for litter ; but they are not 

 the only enemies of the Aleppo Pine. The Procession 

 Caterpillar makes its great silky nest in the twigs, 

 and if not destroyed in time will often eat the tree 

 quite bare. The legend runs that this insect used to 

 devour the crops on the Cimiez hill. The afflicted 

 farmers sought the help of a very pious monk from 

 the monastery. Miss Ormerod had not yet taken the 

 insect pests in hand. The jolly friar attacked the 

 caterpillars with bell, book, and candle ; excommuni- 

 cated, cursed, and anathematized them ; and finally 

 drove them across the Paillon to the Mt. Gros. He 

 also condemned them to change their diet, and to 

 feed henceforth, not on the produce of the farm, but 

 on the useless leaves of the Pine tree. From their 

 contact with the monk they acquired the habit, which 

 they still retain, of walking in procession. 



But the Procession Caterpillar has a more 

 dangerous enemy than the fat old monk. The larva 

 of Calosoma, a coleopterous insect, forces its way 

 into the silken nest and destroys the inmates. So 

 voracious is this grub that it kills many more of the 

 caterpillars than it can possibly eat. It is wisely 

 protected by those who are interested in the pre- 

 servation of the Pine Forests. Calosoma, as its 

 name implies, is a beautiful and conspicuous insect. 

 It is plentiful on the Continent, but very rare in 



