464 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



Africa by Vernon Wollaston, Esq., and is so remarkable as to 

 deserve a detailed description. 



In length it measures eight inches, and in width five and a 

 half inches, its depth being about three inches. The aspect of 

 the exterior gives but little promise of the exceeding strength of 

 the structure, which is as hard and elastic as the side of a silk 

 hat, rebounding when pressed in precisely the same manner. 

 When cut, this covering is seen to be double, the outer case being 

 very thin, and formed of orange-brown silken threads, and the 

 inner being made of many successive layers of dark-brown silk, 

 so that it looks very like undressed leather. 



The most extraordinary part of the nest, however, is the pro- 

 vision which is made for the exit of the inmates. Set upon dif- 

 ferent parts of the nest are thirteen or fourteen little conical pro- 

 tuberances, which do not project very far from the general sur- 

 face, and are quite inconspicuous. On examination, these prom- 

 inences are seen to be composed of stiff silken threads, which con- 

 verge to a point, precisely like those which guard the entrance 

 of the emperor moth's cocoon, so that any inhabitant can crawl 

 out, but no enemy can crawl in. 



This nest, like the preceding, may be seen in the museum at 

 Oxford. 



There is a very pretty, very interesting, and very destructive 

 insect, called by entomologists the Small Ermine Moth ( Ypono- 

 meuta padella), which is very plentiful in this country, and by 

 gardeners is thought to be much too plentiful. It can easily be 

 recognized by its long narrow wings, the upper pair of which are 

 soft silvery or satiny white, spotted with black, and the lower 

 pair dark brown. The expanse of the spread wings is about 

 three quarters of an inch. 



In its winged and pupal states the insect is perfectly harmless, 

 but in its larval condition it becomes a terrible pest. Most cater- 

 pillars wage war singly on the foliage, and though they do much 

 damage, their ravages are conducted in a desultory manner. The 

 Small Ermines, however, band themselves together in hosts, and 

 march like disciplined armies to the attack, invading a district 

 and completely devastating it before they proceed to another. 



They live in large tents, placed among the branches of some 

 tree, and composed of silken threads, which are loosely crossed 

 and recrossed in various directions. From this centre the cater- 



