The Cabbage-caterpillar 



ners we see some weaklings working listlessly 

 at their carpet. Their appearance makes us 

 deem them in the grip of a mortal disease. 

 I take a few of them and open their bellies, 

 using a needle by way of a scalpel. What 

 comes out is a bunch of green entrails, soaked 

 in a bright yellow fluid, which is really the 

 creature's blood. These tangled intestines 

 swarm with little, lazy grubs, varying greatly 

 in number, from ten or twenty at least to 

 sometimes half-a-hundred. They are the off- 

 spring of the Microgaster. 



What do they feed on? The lens makes 

 conscientious enquiries; nowhere does it man- 

 age to show me the vermin attacking solid 

 nourishment, fatty tissues, muscles or other 

 parts; nowhere do I see them bite, gnaw or 

 dissect. The following experiment will tell 

 us more fully: I pour into a watch-glass the 

 crowds extracted from the hospitable paun- 

 ches. I flood them with caterpillar's blood 

 obtained by simple pricks; I place the pre- 

 paration under a glass bell-jar, in a moist 

 atmosphere, to prevent evaporation; I repeat 

 the nourishing bath by means of fresh bleed- 

 ings and give them the stimulant which they 

 would have gained from the living caterpillar. 

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