t in a slanting position. It
makes one think of Diogenes, dragging his house, a terra-cotta tub,
about with him. The thing is rather unwieldy, because of the weight,
and is liable to heel over, owing to the excessive height of the
centre of gravity. It makes progress all the same, tilting like a
busby rakishly cocked over one ear. One of our Land-snails, the
Bulimus, whose shell is continued into a turret, moves almost in the
same fashion, tumbling repeatedly as he goes.

The Clythra's is a shapely jar and does credit to the insect's art of
pottery. It is firm to the touch, of earthy appearance and smooth as
stucco inside, while the outside is relieved by delicate diagonal,
symmetrical ribs, which are the traces of successive enlargements. The
back part is slightly dilated and is rounded off at the end with two
slight bumps. These two terminal projections, with the central furrow
which divides them, and the ribs marking additions, which match on
either side, are evidence of work done in two parts, in which the
artist has followed the rules of symmetry, the first condition of the
beautiful.

The front part is of rather smaller diameter and is cut off on a
slant, which enables the jar to be lifted and supported on the larva's
back as it moves. Lastly, the mouth is circular, with a blunt edge.

Any one finding one of these jars for the first time, among the stones
at the foot of an oak, and wondering what its origin could be, would
be greatly puzzled. Is it the stone of some unknown fruit, emptied of
its kernel by the patient tooth of the Field-mouse? Is it the capsule
of a plant, from which the lid has dropped, allowing the seeds to
fall? It has all the accuracy, all the elegance of the masterpieces of
the vegetable kingdom.

After learning the origin of the object, he would be no less doubtful
as to the nature of the materials, or rather of their cement. Water
will not soften, will not disintegrate the shell. This must be so,
else the first shower of rain would reduce the grub's garment to pulp.
Fire does not affect it greatly either. When exposed to the flame of a
candle, the jar, without changing shape, loses its brown colour and
assumes the tint of burnt ferruginous earth. The groundwork of the
material therefore is of a mineral nature. It remains for us to
discover what the cement can be that gives the earthy element its
brown colour, holds it together and makes it solid.

The grub is ever on its guard. At the