The Capricorn 



end, and holds it in reserve until the time 

 comes to disgorge it. This freestone-fac- 

 tory causes me no astonishment: when the 

 manufacturer undergoes his change, it serves 

 for various chemical works. Certain Oil- 

 beetles, such as the Sitaris, locate in it the 

 urate of ammonia, the refuse of the trans- 

 formed organism; the Sphex, the Pelopaei, 

 the Scoliae, 1 use it to manufacture the shellac 

 wherewith the silk of the cocoon is varnished. 

 Further investigations will only swell the ag- 

 gregate of the products of this obliging or- 

 gan. 



When the exit-way is prepared and the cell 

 upholstered in velvet and closed with a three- 

 fold barricade, the industrious worm has con- 

 cluded its task. It lays aside its tools, sheds 

 its skin and becomes a nymph, a pupa, weak- 

 ness personified, in swaddling-clothes, on a 

 soft couch. The head is always turned to- 

 wards the door. This is a trifling detail in 

 appearance; but it is everything in reality. 

 To lie this way or that in the long cell is a 

 matter of great indifference to the worm, 

 which is very supple, turning easily in its 

 narrow lodging and adopting whatever po- 

 sition it pleases. The coming Capricorn will 

 not enjoy the same privileges. Stiffly girt in 



1 Three species of Digger-wasps. — Translator's Note. 

 203 



