The Life of the Weevil 
be fixed, even as the tailor presses the rebel- 
lious edges of a seam with his iron. For a 
long, a very long time, without moving, she 
pushes and pushes, awaiting a proper degree 
of adhesion. Point by point, the whole welt 
of the corner is minutely and carefully made 
fast. 
How is adhesion obtained? If only some 
sort of thread were employed, one might 
very well regard the rostrum as a sewing- 
machine, inserting its needle at right angles 
into the stuff. But the comparison is not 
permissible: there is no filament employed 
in the work. The explanation of the adhe- 
sion lies elsewhere. 
The leaf is young, we said; the fine pads 
of its denticulations are glands emitting 
traces of liquid glue. These drops of sticky 
matter are the gum, the sealing-wax. By 
the pressure of its beak, the insect makes it 
flow more abundantly from the glands. It 
then has only to hold the signet in position 
and wait for the viscous seal to set. Taken 
all round, this is our own method of sealing 
aletter. If it holds ever so lightly, the leaf, 
losing its resilience as it gradually withers, 
will soon cease to react and will of itself 
150 
