“It is not the creature itself that is to be wondered at, my dear child; the marvels it accomplishes are not the fruit of its reflection. A grub just out of the egg can have no ideas on method, economy, coöperation, when in order to acquire these ideas man needs the full maturity of his reason. Our tribute of admiration should be paid to the Infinite Wisdom which governs the world and leads a brood of caterpillars browsing the surface of a leaf. “Their first hunger appeased, the caterpillars construct a shelter from rain and the heat of the sun. On its gnawed side the leaf is dryer than on the other, and consequently has of itself taken a kind of concave shape by curling up, which makes it serve excellently for the floor and walls of the new abode. As for the ceiling, that is to be of silk. From one raised edge of the leaf to the other the caterpillars stretch threads to strengthen their shelter and serve as framework for the roof, and finally they weave a fabric on this network of threads. Thus is erected a tent under which the caterpillars take refuge for the night after roaming over the foliage most of the day, feeding sometimes on one leaf, sometimes on another. Thither also they retire when the heat is excessive or the weather threatening. It is a shelter hastily constructed and not of enduring quality, besides being too small to hold them all. So other tents are made of other gnawed leaves, and the caterpillars live for a while divided into small families. “But with the first rain-storms of autumn, in September or October, a large building is constructed for housing the whole colony through the winter. It is a bulky mass of dry leaves and white silk, with no definite shape. The inside is divided with silk partitions into numerous apartments to which there is access through holes that pierce, systematically, the several partitions. Each enclosure thus has its doors which, without being directly opposite each other, yet provide free circulation. In short, this common nest, though made of extremely fine silk, is substantial enough to be proof against wind and weather, for the caterpillars use many webs, placed one over another and each containing a great number of threads. With the coming of the first cold weather all shut themselves up, the doors are barricaded with silk, and everything is made snug for the winter. Now let the wind blow and the snow fall! Curled up together and snuggling against one another, the caterpillars sleep the deep sleep produced by the cold, lying torpid in their house of silk until the warmth of opening spring awakens them and sends them forth to browse on the growing leaves.” “And don’t they eat anything all winter?” asked Emile. “All winter as well as a part of the autumn and spring they take no food whatever. Their fast lasts six months, and it is an absolute fast that must leave them with very empty stomachs.” “They must be awfully hungry when they wake up.”