The Life of the Caterpillar 



venomous nature of their organic refuse; 

 the others, the vast majority, living outside 

 these conditions, even though endowed with 

 the necessary product, would be inexpert at 

 the stinging business and would not produce 

 irritation by contact. In all, the same virus 

 is to be found, resulting from an identical vital 

 process. Sometimes it is brought into promin- 

 ence by the itching which it produces; some- 

 times, indeed most often, it remains latent, 

 unrecognized, if our artifices do not intervene. 



What shall these artifices be? Something 

 very simple. I address myself to the Silk- 

 worm. If there be an inoffensive caterpillar 

 in the world, it is certainly he. Women and 

 children take him up by the handful in our 

 Silkworm-nurseries; and their delicate fingers 

 are none the worse for it. The satin-skinned 

 caterpillar is perfectly innocuous to a skin al- 

 most as tender as his own. 



But this lack of caustic venom is only ap- 

 parent. I treat with ether the excretions of 

 the Silkworm ; and the infusion, concentrated 

 into a few drops, is tested according to the 

 usual method. The result is wonderfully de- 

 finite. A smarting sore on the arm, similar in 

 its mode of appearance and in its effects to 

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