38 



IMPERIAL DIET. 



(Balaninus nucumj. The motljer is furnished with 

 a long horny beak, and while the nut is yet soft, 

 drills a hole through the shell, deposits an egg, and 

 thus furnishes its future offspring with a house for 

 its defence, and food for its support. 



A hranch of the filbert tree ; a, perforation of the iceevil; b, extremity 

 of the nut ; c, exit hole of the grub ; b, the grub; c, the pupa; d, 

 the perfect insect. 



In the passages already quoted, the word worm is 

 not appUed to the object to which we usually give 

 the name, the common earth-worm (Lumhriciis ter- 

 restrisj, but to the larva of some species of insect. 

 It is in this sense that the word is almost invariably 

 employed by Shakspeare. Thus, when Hamlet says, 

 " your worm is jour only emperor for diet," the 

 meaning of the word worm is evident from the re- 

 mainder of the passage — " We fat all creatures else 

 to fat us, and we fat ourselves for maggots." 



