CHAPTER VI 



REVIEWING THE CASE 



Now to review this case of the Processionary 

 Caterpillars : We have for consideration the 

 performances of a lowly brood of sightless 

 creatures having no parental protection, and 

 who have not attained the perfect stage ; yet 

 from the first we see them combining to con- 

 struct a waterproof home protected (eventu- 

 ally) on the outside by a frise of poisonous 

 shafts (hairs shed with the skins), and within 

 are galleries for the convenience of the inmates 

 when resting. When leaving this fortress for 

 foraging purposes the larvae, though sightless, 

 have no difficulty in finding their way home, 

 and when finally quitting for reasons stated, 

 they march one behind another in orderly 

 procession to spots of which they can have no 

 conscious knowledge. How is it achieved? 

 Ostensibly they follow a leader ; but how 

 shall the blind lead the blind, and what quali- 

 fications has any one that he should assume 

 leadership over his brethren when all are on 

 an equaUty, the same age ? 



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