THE ALDERj THE CEESS, THE SCABIOUS. 309 



alder nourishes numerous insects, and among the rest, the one 

 called the alder moth, — why, the whole of the alder belongs to 

 it ! This moth, whose wings are yellow sprinkled with brown, 

 has previously been a very singular caterpillar : its shape, its 

 colour, everything, resembles a little portion of an alder- 

 branch of the preceding year, already dried and withered. 



Do yon imagine that cresses have no other destination but 

 to surround the roast-fowls on your table? No; in cresses, 

 a green caterpillar, ornamented with three white lines, con- 

 ceals, feeds, and is metamorphosed into a charming moth with 

 wings, each enriched with two orange spots. 



Close to our feet is a scabious, that dark flower which 

 we have already met with and spoken of, — do you think 

 it has no moth peculiar to itself? Ihe maturne, at first 

 a black caterpillar with three yellow lines ; then a brown, 

 yellow, and black moth : — the artemisia, a black caterpillar 

 with white points ; then a brown, yellow and red moth : and 

 the Sphinx hombiciformis, whose body is painted with a black 

 and a purple band. 



The epilobe, which grows close to the water, at the foot 

 of the alder — does not it nourish the brown caterpillar, (orna- 

 mented with two spots of violet-tinted white, and six grey 

 stripes, with a white-pointed black horn,) which is transformed 

 into the vine sphinx, that charming green and rose-coloured 

 moth? 



The colchicum, in the autumn, enamels the meadows with 

 its little lilac-coloured lihes. The flowers spring from the 

 earth, without being accompanied by leaves ; without being 

 supported by stalks : the ovary remains in the earth ; the 

 stamens shed their pollen upon it ; the flower disappears 

 beneath the snow — and it is not till the following spring, that 

 a tuft of large broad leaves, of a beautiful green, is seen 

 issuing from the earth, amidst which appear the seeds which 

 have ripened underground. The leaves die and disappear 

 a long time before the new flowers appear. All parts of the 

 colchicum are injurious; but the bulb is deadly poison. Its 

 flavour, at first insipid, becomes hot and sharp ; soon after it 

 has been eaten, violent vomitings and cold sweats ensue, 

 followed by death in a few hours. 



Man, when sometimes diecked in his singular ideas relative 



