172 CONVERSATIONS ON 



is very common when a large lump of ice is 

 brought to the house to be used through the 

 day in midsummer, to wrap it up in a thick 

 blanket until it is wanted. 



" But I have not yet told you of the twee- 

 zers. The moth has no jaws, like bees and 

 wasps, so that it cannot pull off these hairs 

 as the bee would ; but, as I told you, it per- 

 forms the work with its tweezers, which are 

 placed in its tail, and are like the points of a 

 pair of sugar-tongs. The insects, too, will 

 use them very rapidly, and pull off a little of 

 the down, spread the egg upon it, and then 

 cover it with more down, and smooth it very 

 neatly. Here are pictures of these tweezers." 



Tweezers of the brown and gold-tailed Moths, magnified. 



This is a curious instrument for the insect 

 to have, Uncle Philip." 



" True, boys, but a very useful one. I will 

 tell you, however, of another strange thing 

 concerning moths with their tweezers ; I 



