A Dangerous Diet 



bite. I am wrong. Next morning I find 

 it more anxious than the day before and still 

 groping about, without resolving to fix its 

 mandibles anywhere. I leave it alone for 

 half a day longer without obtaining any re- 

 sult. Yet twenty-four hours of abstinence 

 must have awakened a good appetite, above 

 all in a creature which, if left undisturbed, 

 would not have ceased eating. 



Excessive hunger cannot induce it to nib- 

 ble at an unlawful spot. Is this due to 

 feebleness of the teeth? By no means: the 

 Cetonia's skin is no tougher on the back 

 than on the belly; moreover, the grub is 

 capable of perforating the skin when it 

 leaves the egg; a fortiori^ it must be more 

 capable of doing so now that it has attained 

 a sturdy growth. Thus we see no lack of 

 ability, but an obstinate refusal to nibble at 

 a point which ought to be respected. Who 

 knows? On this side perhaps the grub's 

 dorsal vessel would be wounded, its heart, 

 an organ indispensable to life. The fact re- 

 mains that my attempts to make the grub 

 tackle its victim from the back have failed. 

 Does this mean that it entertains the least 

 suspicion of the danger which it might incur 

 were it to produce putrefaction by awkwardly 

 carving its victuals from the back? It 

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