60 
MISCHIEF CATERPILLARS CAN DO. 
brought, and as much as eighty bushels were 
burnt in one day. 
In France, a similar misfortune happened, in 
the year seventeen hundred and thirty-one. A 
traveller was going from Paris to Tours, and to 
his surprise th'e trees all looked as if some hot 
wind had scorched them. But it was no hot 
wind; they were literally swarming with cater¬ 
pillars. And by and bye he saw these voracious 
little creatures march across the road in a regular 
army, to get from one field to another, intent on 
devouring every green thing they met with. 
The government passed a law bidding the 
people uncaterpillar ( decheniller ) the trees. But 
it was an impossible task; for the caterpillars 
were like the sand of the sea for multitude. The 
worst part of the story was, that the people 
fancied they were poisonous, and would poison 
every thing they touched. So in consequence of 
this idle tale, the few vegetables left, were not 
allowed to come into the market. Fortunately 
the caterpillars did not touch the corn, or there 
must have been a famine. At last, a number of 
cold wet days thinned their ranks; they died by 
thousands, and in a short time scarcely one of 
them was to be seen. 
But you must not suppose that all caterpillars 
feed upon green leaves, and soft substances; 
