98 THE STORY-BOOK OF SCIENCE 



1 were to tell you all. This little people to which we 

 often disdain to pay the slightest attention, this little 

 race of insects, is so powerful on account of the 

 robust appetite of its larviv, that man ought seri- 

 ously to reckon with it. If a certain grub succeeds 

 in multiplying beyond measure, w 7 hole provinces are 

 threatened with the tragic fate of starvation. And 

 we are left in perfect ignorance on the subject of 

 these devourers! How can you defend yourself if 

 the enemy is unknown to you? Ah, if I only had 

 the management of these things! As for you, my 

 dear children, while waiting for our talks to be re- 

 sumed with more detail concerning these ravagers, 

 remember this: the larva? of insects are the great 

 eaters of this world, the providential demolishers 

 that finish the work of death and thus prepare for 

 the work of life, since everything, or nearly every- 

 thing passes through their stomach." 



