THE PHYLLOXERA 291 



the underground phylloxera, those of the winged 

 insect are of two kinds : one of a larger size, the other 

 only about half as large. The first produce females, 

 the second males. Here, at last, we have the two 

 sexes, whose cooperation will assure indefinite pros- 

 perity to the race. That is the normal order gov- 

 erning all animal life. 



"But what queer little creatures! Yellow, wing- 

 less, stubby, they look like the lice on the roots, but 

 even smaller. These phylloxeras of the third kind 

 are dwarfs in a family of dwarfs. They have no 

 stomachs for digesting, no suckers for puncturing 

 the leaves and extracting their sap. Self-nourish- 

 ment, however slight, is not at all their affair. The 

 laying of eggs that shall renew the vigor of the 

 race, the placing of them where they will be safe, 

 and then a speedy death — that is the sole purpose 

 of their brief span of life. 



"For some days these dwarfs, male and female, 

 wander over the vines and mate, one with another; 

 then, in the fissures of the wrinkled bark, the moth- 

 ers lay each an egg, a single egg, of enormous size 

 in comparison with the smallness of the layer, 

 greenish in color and sprinkled with fine black spots. 

 This egg takes the name of 'winter egg,' being 

 destined to pass the cold season fastened by a little 

 hook to the vine's bark. After this the layer of 

 the egg shrivels up into a reddish point and 

 dies." 



"But how do these eggs manage to get through 

 the winter without freezing? ' ' asked Louis. ' ' Hens ' 



