The Life of the Spider 



I tear the pockets of the one and the taber- 

 nacle of the other, expecting to find the swarm 

 of youngsters lying in a state of complete 

 inertia, numbed by the cold and by lack of 

 food. Well, the result is quite different. The 

 instant their cells are broken open, the 

 anchorites run out and flee in every direction 

 as nimbly as at the best moments of their 

 normal liberty. It is marvellous to see them 

 scampering about. No brood of Partridges, 

 stumbled upon by a Dog, scatters more 

 promptly. 



Chicks, while still no more than tiny balls 

 of yellow fluff, hasten up at the mother's call 

 and scurry towards the plate of rice. Habit 

 has made us indifferent to the spectacle of 

 those pretty httle animal machines, which 

 work so nimbly and with such precision; we 

 pay no attention, so simple does it all appear 

 to us. Science examines and looks at things 

 differently. She says to herself : 



'Nothing is made with nothing. The chick 

 feeds itself; it consumes or rather it assimi- 

 lates and turns the food into heat, which is 

 converted into energy.' 



Were any one to tell us of a chick which, 

 for seven or eight months on end, kept itself 

 378 



