280 FIELD, FOREST AND FARM 



nated with a legion of green lice; a host of odious 

 vermin has taken possession of it; the magnificent 

 has associated with it the disgusting.' The eye is 

 offended; the fingers recoil before this species of 

 animated bark which the slightest pressure turns 

 into a sticky mush. Let us pluck the rbse neverthe- 

 less, and before shaking the lice from it let us exam- 

 ine them a moment. 



"They are light green in color, big-bellied, and 

 wingless. With a little attention we distinguish the 

 two minute posterior horns whence oozes the liquid 

 on which the ants regale themselves. They have, 

 underneath, a sucker, straight and very slender, a 

 sort of bore which they push into the tender bark 

 to extract from it the juices on which they live. The 

 sucker once implanted at any convenient point, the 

 animalcule seldom stirs from that spot. If it does 

 decide to move a little, it is because its well has run 

 dry and it must bore another close beside it. A 

 promenade of merely the length of the branch is a 

 liberty that only the most adventurous dare allow 

 themselves. As a rule, the plant-louse sticks to the 

 spot where it was born, to the very end." 



"But how can the stem of a rose get so completely 

 covered with those little green lice?" asked Emile. 



"That is easily explained," answered his uncle. 

 "Plant-lice multiply very rapidly, since each one, 

 without exception, from the first to the last, what- 

 ever their number, becomes capable in a few days of 

 procreating a family. The newly born settle down 

 beside their mothers, and are themselves soon sur- 



