The Clotho Spider 353 



the cold and by lack of food. Well, the result 

 is quite different. The instant their cells are 

 broken open, the anchorites run out and flee 

 in every direction as nimbly as at the best 

 moments of their normal liberty. It is marvel- 

 lous to see them scampering about. No brood 

 of Partridges, stumbled upon by a Dog, scatters 

 more promptly. 



Chicks, while still no more than tiny balls of 

 yellow fluff, hasten up at the mother's call and 

 scurry towards the plate of rice. Habit has 

 made us indifferent to the spectacle of those 

 pretty little animal machines, which work so 

 nimbly and with such precision ; we pay no 

 attention, so simple does it all appear to us. 

 Science examines and looks at things differ- 

 ently. She says to herself : 



' Nothing is made with nothing. The chick 

 feeds itself ; it consumes or rather it assimilates 

 and turns the food into heat, which is converted 

 into energy.' 



Were any one to tell us of a chick which, for 

 seven or eight months on end, kept itself in con- 

 dition for running, always fit, always brisk, 

 without taking the least beakful of nourishment 



