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136
My Studio Neighbors
·
W. Hamilton Gibson
35
If
with
the
point
of
our
knife-blade,
holding
it
in
the
direction
of
the
insect's
body,
we
now
touch
its
tail,
what
a
display
of
vehement
acrobatics!
Instantly
the
agile
body
is
bent
backward
in
a
loop,
while
the
teeth
fasten
to
the
knife-blade
with
an
audible
click.
If
our
finger-tip
is
substituted
for
the
steel,
the
force
of
the
stroke
and
the
prick
and
grip
of
the
jaws
are
unpleasantly
perceptible.
In
order
to
fully
comprehend
the
make-up
of
this
curious
cave-dweller
we
must
turn
biologists
for
the
moment.
He
must
be
considered
from
the
evolutionary
stand-point,
or
at
least
from
the
stand-point
of
comparative
anatomy.
The
first
discovery
that
we
make
is
that
as
we
now
see
him
he
is
crawling
on
his
back--a
fact
which
seems
to
have
escaped
his
biographers
heretofore.
It
is,
in
truth,
the
underside
of
his
head
which
is
uppermost
at
the
mouth
of
the
burrow,
and
his
six
zigzag
legs
are
distorted
backward
to
enable
him
to
keep
this
contrary
position.
And
what
a
hideous
monster
is
this,
whose
flat,
metallic,
dirt-begrimed
face
stares
skyward
from
this
circular
burrow!
Well
might
it
strike
terror
to
the
heart
of
the
helpless
insect
which
should
suddenly
find
himself
confronted
by
the
motionless
stare
of
these
four
cruel,
glistening
black
eyes!
But
he
is
now
a
"fish
out
of
water,"
and
is
about
as
helpless,
nature
never
having
intended
him
to
be
seen
outside
of
his
burrow--at
least,
in
this
present
form.
There
he
dwells,
setting
his
circular
trap
at
the
mouth
of
his
pitfall,
and
waiting
for
the
voluntary
sacrifice
of
his
insect
neighbors
to
fill
his
maw.
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