The Family 133 



plastic food, the smith of hving creatures, in- 

 creases the body, up to a certain Umit, and 

 renews it as it wears away. The stoker works 

 at the same time, without stopping. Fuel, 

 the source of energy, makes but a short stay 

 in the system, where it is consumed and furn- 

 ishes heat, whence movement is derived. Life 

 is a fire-box. Warmed by its food, the animal 

 machine moves, walks, runs, jumps, swims, 

 flies, sets its locomotory apparatus going in a 

 thousand manners. 



To return to the young Lycosae, they grow no 

 larger until the period of their emancipation. 

 I find them at the age of seven months the same 

 as when I saw them at their birth. The egg 

 supplied the materials necessary for their tiny 

 frames ; and, as the loss of waste substance is, 

 for the moment, excessively small, or even 

 nil, additional plastic food is not needed so 

 long as the beastie does not grow. In this 

 respect, the prolonged abstinence presents no 

 difficulty. But there remains the question of 

 energy-producing food, which is indispensable, 

 for the little Lycosa moves, when necessary, 

 and very actively at that. To what shall we 



