The Life of the Weevil 
vetch (Vicia peregrina) or the common vetch 
(V. sativa). The number of eggs remains 
high even on these insufficient pods, because 
the original plant offered a copious pro- 
vender, whether by the multiplicity or by the 
large size of the seeds. If the Bruchus is 
really a foreigner, we may accept the bean 
as her first victim; if the insect is a native, 
let us accept the everlasting pea. 
Some time in the remote past the pea 
reached us, gathered at first in the same pre- 
historic garden-patch which already supplied 
the bean. Man found it a better food than 
the horse-bean, which is very much neglected 
to-day after doing such good service. The 
Weevil was of the same opinion and, without 
quite forgetting her broad bean and her ever- 
lasting pea, generally pitched her camp on 
the garden pea, which became more widely 
cultivated from century to century. Today 
we have to go shares: the Bruchus takes 
what she wants and lets us have her leavings. 
The insect’s prosperity, born of the abun- 
dance and quality of our products, from 
another point of view spells decadence. For 
the Weevil as for ourselves, progress in the 
matter of food and drink does not always 
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