The Life of the Fly 



will be made tells it pretty accurately what 

 length of stick it wants. 



The piece is patiently sawn off with the 

 mandibles ; it is next taken in the fore-legs 

 and held crosswise below the neck. The 

 backward movement which brings the Cad- 

 dis-worm home also brings the bit of twig to 

 the edge of the tube. Thereupon, the 

 methods employed in working with the scraps 

 of root are renewed in precisely the same man- 

 ner. The sticks are scaffolded to the regula- 

 tion height, all alike in length, amply sol- 

 dered in the middle and free at either end. 



With the picked materials provided, the 

 carpenter has turned out a work of some ele- 

 gance. The joists are all arranged crosswise, 

 because this way is the handiest for carrying 

 the sticks and putting them in position; they 

 are fixed by the middle, because the two arms 

 that hold the stick while the spinneret does 

 its work require an equal grasp on either side; 

 each soldering covers a length which is seen 

 to be practically invariable, because it is equal 

 to the width described by the head in bending 

 first to this side and then to that when the 

 silk is emitted; the whole assumes a polygonal 

 shape, not far removed from a rectilinear 

 pentagon, because, between laying one piece 



196 



