278 NATURAL HISTORY. [CH. XX. 



for the future larva has first undergone a system 

 of cooking, if we may use such a term, in the body 

 of the parent, before it is fit for the use of the pro- 

 geny. M. Defrance, indeed, considers that the fe- 

 male has the sagacity to inflict a wound upon the 

 animal for the purpose not only of supplying its 

 own wants, but also those of its offspring, by caus- 

 ing a slight trickling of the blood, which, however, 

 from the warmth of the animal, immediately dries 

 up. Our author considers this to be proved by 

 the circumstance that these grains are found only 

 among the hairs of the animal attacked, or in the 

 places where it has lain ; whereas, had it been ex- 

 crementitious matter, they would have been found 

 in other places where the fleas abound. Be this, 

 however, as it may, the existence of these grains 

 cannot be regarded otherwise than as one of those 

 admirable instances of instinctive care which is 

 bestowed by the Creator upon the meanest of his 

 creatures, for the due support of a yet unborn 

 progeny, and the consequent preservation of the 

 species. 



That these grains form the food of the larvae is 

 evident from the observations of M. Defrance, who 

 expressly states that he fed the young larvae with 

 some which he had found with the eggs. These 

 larvae creep along very quickly ; their progressive 

 motion resembling that of a worm in stretching the 

 head forward, and then drawing the rest of the 

 body after it. They were not, however, able to 

 ascend the sides of the box in which they were 

 placed. Neither these larvae nor the cocoons which 

 they spin, are ever to be found upon the animals 

 attacked by the parent ; indeed, from their being 

 very soft and unable to protect themselves in this 

 state, it is improbable that they should be generally 

 met with in such a situation. M. Defrance pre- 

 sented to the larvae several flies, and some of them 

 did not seem unwilling to feed upon the fleshy parts 



