The Processionary: the Procession 



is useless to rely upon sight as a guide on this 

 long and erratic journey. The Processionary, 

 it is true, has five ocular specks on either side 

 of his head, but they are so infinitesimal, so 

 difficult to make out through the magnifying- 

 glass, that we cannot attribute to them any 

 great power of vision. Besides, what good 

 would those short-sighted lenses be in the 

 absence of light, in black darkness? 



It is equally useless to think of the sense 

 of smell. Has the Processional any olfactory 

 powers or has he not ? I do not know. With- 

 out giving a positive answer to the question, 

 I can at least declare that his sense of smell 

 is exceedingly dull and in no way suited to 

 help him find his way. This is proved, in 

 my experiments, by a number of hungry cater- 

 pillars that, after a long fast, pass close be- 

 side a pine-branch without betraying any 

 eagerness or showing a sign of stopping. It 

 is the sense of touch that tells them where 

 they are. So long as their lips do not chance 

 to light upon the pasture-land, not one of them 

 settles there, though he be ravenous. They 

 do not hasten to food which they have scented 

 from afar; they stop at a branch which they 

 encounter on their way. 

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