The Cabbage-caterpillar 



of the individual pieces that composed it. The 

 structure of piles has disappeared; the prints 

 left by the piles remain. The little caterpil- 

 lars are now on the level of the leaf which 

 shall henceforth feed them. They are a pale 

 orange-yellow, with a sprinkling of white 

 bristles. The head is a shiny black and re- 

 markably powerful; it already gives signs of 

 the coming gluttony. The little animal 

 measures scarcely two millimetres 1 in length. 



The troop begins its steadying-work as soon 

 as it comes into contact with its pasturage, the 

 green cabbage-leaf. Here, there, in its im- 

 mediate neighbourhood, each grub emits from 

 its spinning-glands short cables so slender that 

 it takes an attentive lens to catch a glimpse of 

 them. This is enough to ensure the equili- 

 brium of the almost imponderable atom. 



The vegetarian meal now begins. The 

 grub's length promptly increases from two 

 millimetres to four. Soon, a moult takes place 

 which alters its costume: its skin becomes 

 speckled, on a pale-yellow ground, with a 

 number of black dots intermingled with white 

 bristles. Three or four days of rest are neces- 

 sary after the fatigue of breaking cover. 



^078 inch. Translator's Note. 

 345 



