The Processionary : the Moth 



ments which will give me the key to the 

 riddle. 



In April I make a copious collection of 

 cocoons. Of these I place ten or twelve at 

 the bottom of test-tubes of different diameters 

 and, last of all, I fill the apparatus with sandy 

 soil, sifted and very slightly moistened. The 

 contents are pressed down, but in moderation, 

 for fear of injuring the cocoons below. When 

 the month of August comes, the column of 

 earth, damp at the outset, has set so firmly, 

 thanks to evaporation, that, when I reverse 

 the test-tube, nothing trickles out. On the 

 other hand, some cocoons have been kept 

 naked under a metallic cover. These will 

 teach me what the buried cocoons would not 

 be able to show. They furnish me, in fact, 

 with records of the greatest interest. On issu- 

 ing from the cocoon, the Pine Bombyx has 

 her finery bundled up and presents the appear- 

 ance of a cylinder with rounded ends. The 

 wings, the principal obstacle to underground 

 labour, are pressed against the breast like nar- 

 row scarves; the antennae, another serious em- 

 barrassment, have not yet unfolded their 

 plumes and are turned back along the Moth's 

 sides. The hair, which later forms a dense 



117 



