The Life of the Weevil 
whence oozes a little of the viscous matter 
that smears the buds at the moment when 
their scales separate. 
Now a word on the tools. The legs are 
provided with two claws shaped like the 
hook of a steel-yard. The lower side of the 
tarsi carries a thick brush of white bristles. 
Thus shod, the insect very nimbly climbs the 
most slippery perpendicular walls; it can 
stand and run like a Fly, back downwards, 
on the ceiling of a glass bell. This charac- 
teristic alone is enough to suggest the 
delicate balance which its work will demand. 
The beak, the curved and _ powerful 
rostrum, without being exaggerated in size, 
like those of the Balanini, expands at the 
tip into a spatula ending in a pair of fine 
shears. It makes an excellent stylet, which 
plays the first part of all. 
The leaf, as a matter of fact, cannot be 
rolled in its actual condition. It is a living 
sheet which, owing to the rush of the sap 
and the resilience of the tissues, would 
recover its flatness while the insect was 
endeavouring to bend it. The dwarf has not 
the strength to master an object of this size, 
to roll it up so long as it retains the 
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