THE CLOTH CATERPILLAR. 37 
Mother. These rolled leaves are often 
found on pear and apple trees, which, 
some years, are materially injured by the 
numbers of their little guests. There 
are two or three very small species, which 
eat cloth and fur; they spin round 
themselves a case a little wider than their 
bodies, so that they can just turn round ; 
in these cases they live, and, putting out 
their head and legs, carry their house 
about with them. 
Lucy, Just like snails, I suppose ; 
how very odd th^ little thing must look, 
dragging its long narrow house after it. 
I wonder what nourishment it can find 
in cloth. 
Mother, There is hardly any sub* 
stance which does not afford food for 
some description of animal. You may 
observe another curious circumstance of 
these cloth caterpillars ; the colour of 
what they spin, to enlarge their case, is 
determined always by that of the cloth 
on which they feed ; and by changing the 
