340 On Blighi. 



of the apple, and soon buries itself in its substance ; and it 

 is worthy of remark that the rind of the apple, as if to afford 

 every facility to the destroyer, is thinner here than in any 

 other part, and consequently more easily pierced. The 

 apple most commonly attacked is the codlin, a large early 

 sort, which ripens in July and August. 



" The grub, controlled by an unvarying instinct, eats into 

 the apple obliquely downwards, and by thus avoiding the 

 core and pips in no way hinders its growth : at first it makes 

 but slow progress, being little bigger than a thread, but after 

 a fortnight its size and its operations have much increased ; 

 it has now eaten half-way down the apple, and the position of 

 the hole at the top, if the apple continue upright, or nearly 

 so, is inconvenient for a purpose it has up to this time been 

 used for, that is, as a pass to get rid of its little pellets of 

 excrement, which are something like fine sawdust or coarse 

 sand; another communication with the outer air is therefore 

 required, and it must be so constructed as to allow the power 

 of gravity to assist in keeping it clear; it is accordingly made 

 directly downwards towards that part of the apple which is 

 lowest, and thus the trouble of thrusting the pellets upwards 

 through the eye of the apple is saved, and a constant admission 

 given to a supply of air without any labour. The hole now 

 made is not, however, sufficiently open for an observer to gain 

 by its means any knowledge of what is going on within ; this is- 

 only to be obtained by cutting open a number of the apples 

 as they gradually advance towards ripeness ; the hole is, 

 however, very easily seen, from its always having adhering to 

 it on the outside, an accumulption of the little grains which 

 have been thrust through. Having completed this work, the 

 grub returns towards the centre of the apple, where he feeds 

 at his ease. When within a few days of being full fed, he, 

 for the first time, enters the core throuoh a round hole 

 gnawed in the hard horny substance which always separates 

 the pips from the pulp of the fruit, and the destroyer now 

 finds himself in that spacious chamber which codlins in 

 particular always have in their centre. From this time he 

 eats only the pips, never again tasting the more common 

 pulp which hitherto had satisfied his unsophisticated palate: 

 now nothing less than the highly flavoured aromatic kernels 

 will suit his tooth, and on these for a few days he feasts in 

 luxury. 



" Somehow or other, the pips of an apple are connected 

 with its growth, as the heart of an animal with its life: 

 injure the heart, an animal dies; injure the pips, an apple 

 falls. Whether the fall of his house gives the tenant warning 



