The Life of the Caterpillar 



she touched, above all with her fat belly ap- 

 parently, has become impregnated, as the re- 

 sult of long contact, with certain emanations. 

 There you have her bait, her love-philtre; 

 there you have what revolutionizes the world 

 of Monks. The sand retains it for a time and 

 spreads its effluvia around. 



It is smell therefore that guides the Moths, 

 that gives them information at a distance. 

 Dominated by the sense of smell, they take 

 no notice of what their eyes tell them; they 

 pass by the glass prison in which their lady- 

 love is now interned ; they go to the wires, to 

 the sand, on which the magic cruets have shed 

 their contents; they race to the wilderness 

 where naught remains of the witch but the 

 scented evidence of her sojourn. 



The irresistible philtre takes a certain time 

 to elaborate. I picture it as an exhalation 

 which is gradually given off and saturates 

 everything that touches the fat, motionless 

 creature. When the glass bell stands directly 

 on the table or, better still, on a square of 

 glass, the communication between the interior 

 and the outer air is insufficient; and the males, 

 perceiving nothing by the sense of smell, keep 

 away, however long the experiment be con- 

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