Thanks to the general interest taken in old
books now-a-days, the worm has hard times of it, and but slight chance
of that quiet neglect which is necessary to his, existence. So much
greater is the reason why some patient entomologist should, while there
is the chance, take upon himself to study the habits of the creature,
as Sir John Lubbock has those of the ant.
I have now before me some leaves of a book, which, being waste,
were used by our economical first printer, Caxton, to make boards,
by pasting them together. Whether the old paste was an attraction,
or whatever the reason may have been, the worm, when he got in there,
did not, as usual, eat straight through everything into the middle
of the book, but worked his way longitudinally, eating great furrows
along the leaves without passing out of the binding; and so furrowed
are these few leaves by long channels that it is difficult to raise
one of them without its falling to pieces.
This is bad enough, but we may be very thankful that in these temperate
climes we have no such enemies as are found in very hot countries,
where a whole library, books, bookshelves, table, chairs, and all,
may be destroyed in one night by a countless army of ants.
Our cousins in the United States, so fortunate in many things,
seem very fortunate in this--their books are not attacked
by the "worm"--at any rate, American writers say so.
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