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a literal sens, the mother of all her people ; she lays 

 in one year upwards of fifty thousand eggs : she pro- 

 duces three sorts of them, from whence are hatched 

 three kinds of individuals of different shape. The neu- 

 ters then construct three sorts of cells, to receive the 

 eggs, and lodge the young to he hatched from them. 



Divers species of insects are real hermaphrodites ; in 

 each individual both sexes are united, but he cannot fe- 

 cundate himself; and generation depends in this case, 

 as elsewhere, on the concurrence of two individuals. 



7- Other insects are hermaphrodites of a more sin- 

 gular nature ; each individual propagates without any 

 commerce with another. We have the first example of 

 this in the vine-fretter, that deserves some attention. 



You have very frequently seen little flies fastened in 

 n gj;eat number to the extremities and leaves of plants, 

 and twisting them round in various forms : these are 

 vine-fretters, whose species are almost as numerous as 

 those of vegetables, and whose remarkable properties 

 are multiplied in proportion to the attention we pay 

 them. 



They bring forth living young ones : their births are 

 easy to trace, there needs only good eyes and a little 

 patience. Take up a little one as soon as it is pro- 

 duced, inclose it immediately in the most perfect soli- 

 tude, and in order to be the better assured, carry your 

 precautions to a degree of scrupulousness ; be, with re- 

 spect to it, a more vigilant Argus than the fabulous one. 

 When the little recluse has acquired a certain growth, 

 it will begin to have young ; and, after some days, you 

 will find it in the midst of a numerous family. 



Make the same experiment on one of the individuals 

 of this family that you have tried on its chief; the new 

 hermit will multiply like its father, and this second ge- 

 neration, brought up in solitude, will not prove less 

 fruitful than the first. 



Repeat the experiment from one generation to ano- 

 ther ; abate nothing of your cares, your precautions, and 



