The Processionary : Meteorology 



cleave his back with so many slits, if he merely 

 strips himself of his hair to throw an irri- 

 tating dust in our eyes. There must certainly 

 be something else in question. 



Reaumur mentions these openings, of 

 which he made a brief study. He calls them 

 stigmata and is inclined to take them for ex- 

 ceptional breathing-holes. That they are not, 

 O my master; no insect contrives air-holes on 

 its back! Moreover, the magnifying-glass re- 

 veals no channel of communication with the 

 interior. Respiration plays no part here; the 

 solution of the enigma must lie elsewhere. 



The protuberances that rise from those ex- 

 panded cavities are formed of a soft, pale, 

 hairless membrane, which gives the impression 

 of a visceral hernia, as though the caterpillar 

 were wounded and exposing its delicate en- 

 trails to the air. The sensitiveness just here 

 is great. The lightest touch with the point 

 of a hair-pencil causes the immediate in- 

 drawing of the protuberances and the closing 

 of the containing lips. 



The touch of a solid object even is not 

 essential. I pick up a tiny drop of water on 

 the point of a pin and, without shaking it off, 

 present this drop to the sensitive projection. 



95 



