354 APT.ERA. 
and on the least touch, or alarm, they 
roll themselves np into little balls. When 
the larva period oi' their life has elapsed 
they spin themselves a little cocoon, 
' Lucy. Oh ! what a diverting cocoon 
it must be ! One must use a microscope 
to see it. 
. Mother. It spins the cocoon with its- 
mouth, drawing the minute silken threads 
from a reseiToir of gummy matter, with 
which it is provided ; the outside of the 
cocoon is generally dirty, but the inside 
is as white and as soft as cotton. It re* 
mains a fortnight in the chrysalis, during 
which time it is white and polished, so 
that it looks like an ivory flea ; but two 
days before it emerges from its case, th^ 
skin becomes gradually darker and harder. 
Lucy. Mamma, I remember to have 
heard it said, that fleas jumped farther in 
proportion to their size than any other 
creature. 
Mother. Yes ; it is asserted, that a 
flea can jump two hundred times the 
height of its own body. 
