CHAPTER X 



THE PSYCHES: THE CASES 



THE hatching of the eggs takes place in 

 the first fortnight of July. The little 

 grubs measure about one twenty-fifth of an 

 inch. Their head and the upper part of the 

 first thoracic segment are a glossy black, the 

 next two segments brownish and the rest of 

 the body a pale amber. Sharp, lively little 

 creatures, who run about with short, quick 

 steps, they swarm all over the spongy, hairy 

 tissue resulting from the cast-off clothing of 

 the eggs. 



The books tell me that the little Psyches 

 begin by eating up their mother: a loathsome 

 banquet for which the said books must ac- 

 cept responsibility. I see nothing of the sort; 

 and I do not even understand how the idea 

 arose. The mother bequeaths to her sons her 

 case, whose straws are searched for wadding, 

 the material of the first coat; out of her chry- 

 salid slough and her skin she makes them a 

 two-fold shelter for the hatching-time; with 

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