Change of Diet 



And, full of their troubles, they unfolded, 

 before my eyes, a scrap of flannel on which 

 the vermin were swarming: 



" Regardas, moussu! Venoun d'espeli; 

 et ren per lour douna! Ah, pecdire! 

 Look, sir! The frost has come and we've 

 nothing to give them! Oh, what a misfor- 

 tune!" 



Poor people! What a harsh trade is 

 yours: respectable above all others, but of 

 all the most uncertain! You work your- 

 selves to death; and, when you have almost 

 reached your goal, a few hours of a cold 

 night, which comes upon you suddenly, de- 

 stroys your harvest. To help these afflicted 

 ones seemed to me a very difficult thing. I 

 tried, however, taking botany as my guide; 

 it suggested to me, as substitutes for the 

 mulberry, the members of closely-related 

 families: the elm, the nettle-tree, the nettle, 

 the pellitory. Their nascent leaves, chopped 

 small, were offered to the Silk-worms. 

 Other and far less logical attempts were 

 made, in accordance with the inspiration of 

 the individuals. Nothing came of them. 

 To the last specimen, the new-born 

 Silk-worms died of hunger. My renown as 

 a quack must have suffered somewhat from 

 this check. Was it really my fault? No, 

 189 



