g and closing, does much to assist
the act of progression. In short, the Glow-worm is a new sort of
self-propelled cripple, who decks his hind-quarters with a dainty
white rose, a kind of hand with twelve fingers, not jointed, but
moving in every direction: tubular fingers which do not seize, but
stick.

The same organ serves another purpose: that of a toilet-sponge and
brush. At a moment of rest, after a meal, the Glow-worm passes and
repasses the said brush over his head, back, sides and hinder-parts, a
performance made possible by the flexibility of his spine. This is
done point by point, from one end of the body to the other, with a
scrupulous persistency that proves the great interest which he takes
in the operation. What is his object in thus sponging himself, in
dusting and polishing himself so carefully? It is a question,
apparently, of removing a few atoms of dust or else some traces of
viscidity that remain from the evil contact with the snail. A wash and
brush-up is not superfluous when one leaves the tub in which the
mollusc has been treated.

If the Glow-worm possessed no other talent than that of chloroforming
his prey by means of a few tweaks resembling kisses, he would be
unknown to the vulgar herd; but he also knows how to light himself
like a beacon; he shines, which is an excellent manner of achieving
fame. Let us consider more particularly the female, who, while
retaining her larval shape, becomes marriageable and glows at her best
during the hottest part of summer. The lighting-apparatus occupies the
last three segments of the abdomen. On each of the first two, it takes
the form, on the ventral surface, of a wide belt covering almost the
whole of the arch; on the third, the luminous part is much less and
consists simply of two small crescent-shaped markings, or rather two
spots which shine through to the back and are visible both above and
below the animal. Belts and spots emit a glorious white light,
delicately tinged with blue. The general lighting of the Glow-worm
thus comprises two groups: first, the wide belts of the two segments
preceding the last; secondly, the two spots of the final segments. The
two belts, the exclusive attribute of the marriageable female, are the
part richest in light: to glorify her wedding, the future mother dons
her brightest gauds; she lights her two resplendent scarves. But,
before that, from the time of the hatching, she had only the modest
rush-light of the ster