The Spotted Larinus 
circle. A second white drop appears at the 
factory-door. The mandibles take hold of 
the ignominious product as they would of an 
ordinary mouthful; and the process is re- 
peated as before: the cell is first smeared 
with glue and then encrusted with ligneous 
particles. 
After thus expending a certain number of 
trowelfuls of cement, the grub remains mo- 
tionless; it seems to be abandoning a job too 
much for its means. Twenty-four hours 
later, the open hulls are still gaping. An 
attempt has been made to repair the cell, 
but not to close it thoroughly. The task is 
too heavy. 
What is lacking? Not the ligneous mate- 
rials, which can always be obtained from the 
grub’s surroundings, but the adhesive cement, 
the factory having closed down. And why 
has it closed down? The answer is quite 
simple: because the vessels of the thistle- 
head detached from its stalk are dry and can 
no longer furnish the food upon which every- 
thing depends. 
The curly-bearded Chaldean used to build 
with bricks of mud baked in the kiln and 
cemented with bitumen. The Weevil of the 
41 
