THE GLOW-WORM 



anaesthetic bite takes effect, and how very skilfully the 

 Glow-worm treats his Snail. 



To do all this, poised high in air on a sheet of glass 

 or a grass-stem, the Glow-worm must have some special 

 limb or organ to keep him from slipping. It is plain 

 that his short clumsy legs are not enough. 



Through the magnifying-glass we can see that he does 

 indeed possess a special organ of this kind. Beneath 

 his body, towards the tail, there is a white spot. The 

 glass shows that this is composed of about a dozen short, 

 fleshy little tubes, or stumpy fingers, which are some- 

 times gathered into a cluster, sometimes spread into a 

 rosette. This bunch of little fingers helps the Glow- 

 worm to stick to a smooth surface, and also to climb. 

 If he wishes to fix himself to a pane of glass or a stalk 

 he opens his rosette, and spreads it wide on the support, 

 to which it clings by its own natural stickiness. And 

 by opening and shutting alternately it helps him to creep 

 along and to climb. 



The little fingers that form this rosette are not jointed, 

 but are able to move in all directions. Indeed they are 

 more like tubes than fingers, for they cannot seize any- 

 thing, they can only hold on by their stickiness. They 

 are very useful, however, for they have a third purpose, 

 be'sides their powers of clinging and climbing. They 

 are used as a sponge and brush. At a moment of rest, 



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