The Life of the Weevil 



efforts, like those of sailors hauling on a 

 cable. 



"Yo-heave-ho!" says the grub; and the 

 sausage rises a peg higher. 



While the extracting pad is swelling and 

 straining every muscle, it is evident that the 

 part still in the shell is draining itself of its 

 humours as far as it possibly can, making 

 them flow into the part released. It is 

 this that makes the wire-drawing action 

 feasible. 



One more effort of leverage from the in- 

 flated girdle; one more yawn: 



"Heave-ho!" 



That has done the trick. The grub glides 

 over the shell and drops. 



One of the nuts which have just afforded 

 me this sight was gathered on its branch a 

 few hours before. The grub, then, would 

 have fallen to the ground from the height 

 of the hazel-bush. Allowing for the pro- 

 portions, such a fall would for us mean a ter- 

 rible crash; for the grub, so plastic and 

 supple, it is a trifle. It matters little to the 

 larva whether it tumbles into the world from 

 the top of the bush or whether it quietly 

 changes its lodgings a little later, when the 

 130 



