open the twig, and the
mystery is unveiled. The actual eggs are where they always were, though
they are slightly disarranged. They are empty, reduced to the condition
of transparent skins, split wide open at the upper end. From them has
issued the singular organism whose most notable characteristics are as
follows:--

In its general form, the configuration of the head and the great black
eyes, the creature, still more than the egg, has the appearance of an
extremely minute fish. A simulacrum of a ventral fin increases the
resemblance. This apparent fin in reality consists of the two
fore-limbs, which, packed in a special sheath, are bent backwards,
stretched out against one another in a straight line. Its small degree
of mobility must enable the grub to escape from the egg-shell and, with
greater difficulty, from the woody tunnel leading to the open air.
Moving outwards a little from the body, and then moving back again, this
lever serves as a means of progression, its terminal hooks being already
fairly strong. The four other feet are still covered by the common
envelope, and are absolutely inert. It is the same with the antennae,
which can scarcely be seen through the magnifying-glass. The organism
which has issued from the egg is a boat-shaped body with a fin-shaped
limb pointing backwards on the ventral face, formed by the junction of
the two fore-limbs. The segmentation of the body is very clear,
especially on the abdomen. The whole body is perfectly smooth, without
the least suspicion of hair.

What name are we to give to this initial phase of the Cigale--a phase so
strange, so unforeseen, and hitherto unsuspected? Must I amalgamate some
more or less appropriate words of Greek and fabricate a portentous
nomenclature? No, for I feel sure that barbarous alien phrases are only
a hindrance to science. I will call it simply the _primary larva_, as I
have done in the case of the Meloides, the Leucospis, and the Anthrax.

The form of the primary larva of the Cigale is eminently adapted to its
conditions and facilitates its escape. The tunnel in which the egg is
hatched is very narrow, leaving only just room for passage. Moreover,
the eggs are arranged in a row, not end to end, but partially
overlapping. The larva escaping from the hinder ranks has to squeeze
past the empty shells, still in position, of the eggs which have already
hatched, so that the narrowness of the passage is increased by the empty
egg-shells. Und