THE GLOW-WORM 43 



pan. By the time the meal is finished only insignificant 

 remains are left. 



The matter is obvious. By repeated tiny bites, similar 

 to the tweaks which we saw administered at the beginning, 

 the flesh of the Snail is converted into a gruel on which the 

 various guests nourish themselves each in his own way, each 

 working at the broth by means of some special pepsine (or 

 digestive fluid), and each taking his own mouthfuls of it. 

 The use of this method shows that the Glow-worm's mouth 

 must be very feebly armed, apart from the two fangs which 

 sting the patient and inject the poison. No doubt these 

 fangs at the same time inject some other substance which 

 turns the solid flesh into liquid, in such a thorough way that 

 every morsel is turned to account. 



And this is done with exquisite delicacy, though sometimes 

 in a position that is anything but steady. The Snails im- 

 prisoned in my apparatus sometimes crawl up to the top, 

 which is closed with a glass pane. To this pane they fix 

 themselves with a speck of the sticky substance they carry 

 with them ; but, as they are miserly in their use of this sub- 

 stance, the merest shake is enough to loosen the shell and 

 send it to the bottom of the jar. 



Now it is not unusual for the Glow-worm to hoist himself 

 to the top, with the help of a certain climbing-organ that 

 makes up for the weakness of his legs. He selects his prey, 

 makes a careful inspection of it to find a slit, nibbles it a 

 little, makes it insensible, and then, without delay, proceeds 

 to prepare the gruel which he will go on eating for days on 

 end. 



When he has finished his meal the shell is found to be 

 absolutely empty. And yet this shell, which was fixed to 

 the glass only by a slight smear of stickiness, has not come 

 loose, nor even shifted its position in the smallest degree. 

 Without any protest from the hermit who has been gradually 

 converted into broth, it has been drained dry on the very 

 spot at which the first attack was made. These small details 



