The Life of the Weevil 



softened by incipient decay, even seasoned 

 with a touch of mildew. I prepare them to 

 her liking by keeping them in -a jar on a 

 bed of moist sand. 



Thus treated, the grub hatched in June 

 soon increases in size. Two months are 

 enough to turn it into a handsome orange- 

 yellow larva, which, when its cell is broken 

 open, suddenly, with the violence of a spring 

 released, straightens its curved body and 

 tosses about. Observe its slender form, 

 much less stout than that of the other 

 Weevils in general. This is the only instance 

 in which lack of corpulence in the larva 

 denotes an adult of an exceptional class. I 

 shall say no more on the subject of the grub : 

 its description would be df no particular 

 interest. 



The matter deserves looking into more 

 closely. It is the end of September ; we have 

 been suffering from an extraordinarily hot 

 and dry summer. The dog-days seem deter- 

 mined to last for ever. The forests are 

 ablaze in the Ardeche, the Bordeaux and the 

 Roussillon districts; whole villages have been 

 burnt down on the slopes of the Alps; in 

 front of my door, a careless passer-by, throw- 

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