The Life of the Caterpillar 



she flutters about and blunders to earth again; 

 and her best efforts barely succeed in bringing 

 her to the lower branches, which almost drag 

 along the ground. Here are deposited the 

 cylinders of eggs, at a height of six feet at 

 most. It is the young caterpillars who, from 

 one provisional encampment to another, 

 gradually ascend, attaining, stage by stage, 

 the summits upon which they weave their final 

 dwellings. Once we grasp this peculiarity, the 

 rest is plain sailing. 



In August we inspect the lower foliage of 

 the tree: an easy examination, for it is car- 

 ried on no higher than our heads. Towards 

 the far end of the twigs it is easy to espy 

 the Bombyx' eggs, packed into cylinders that 

 resemble scaly catkins. Their size and their 

 whitish colour make them show up amid the 

 sombre green. Gathered with the double 

 pine-needle that bears them, these cylinders 

 are crushed under foot, a summary fashion 

 of stamping out an evil before it spreads. 



This I have done in the case of the few 

 pine-trees in my enclosure. And the same 

 might be done in the wider forest expanses 

 and more especially in parks and gardens, 

 where symmetrical foliation is one of the 



