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and of oil, into which they are apt to fall and perish. In this case they soon turn most offensively putrid, so that a man might as well sit over the putrid body of a large animal as write with the ink in which they have died. They often fly into the faces or bosoms of persons, and their legs being armed with sharp spines, the pricking excites a sudden horror not easily repressed. In old houses they swarm by myriads, making indescribably nasty every part where they harbour, which in the daytime is in dark corners, behind all sorts of clothes, in trunks, boxes, and in short every place where they can lie concealed. In old timber and deal houses, when the family is retired at night to sleep, this insect, among its other disagreeable properties, has the power of making a noise which very much resembles a pretty smart knocking with the knuckle upon wainscotting; in the West Indies it is therefore frequently known by the name of the Drummer.

THE COMMON LOCUST.

THIS insect, which is of the Hemipterous order, is about three inches long, and has two horns or feelers, an inch in length. The head and horns are of a brownish colour; it is blue about the mouth, and also on

the inside of the larger legs: the shield that covers the back is greenish; the upper side of the body brown, spotted with black, and the under side purple; the upper wings are brown, with small dusky spots, with one larger at the tips; the under wings are more transparent, and of a light brown tinctured with green, with a dark cloud of spots near the tips.

These noxious insects fly in such numbers as to seem at a distance like a dark cloud, which, as it approaches, almost excludes the light of day. It often happens that the husbandman sees them pass over without doing him any injury; but in this case they only proceed to settle on some less fortunate country. Wherever they alight, they make dreadful havoc among the vegetation. In the tropical climates their presence is not attended with such destructive consequences as in the southern parts of Europe; for in those, the vegetative power is so strong and active, that an interval of only a few days will sometimes repair all the damage: but in Europe their ravages cannot be obliterated till the succeeding year. In their flights they have been known to fall into the sea in such innumerable myriads, as to form banks on the shore of three or four feet in height, and fifty miles in length.

The CRESTED LOCUST differs from the preceding, and is an inhabitant of the East: it is a highly beautiful animal, being of a bright red, with the body annulated with black, and the legs varied with yellow; the upper wings are marked with variegations of dark and pale green; the lower with transverse undulated streaks. The length of this species, from head to tail, is about four inches; and the expanse of wings from tip to tip, when fully extended, hardly less than seven inches and a half.

Of the Locust tribe there are upwards of two hundred species, some of which are used as an article of food by the natives of Africa and India.

THE HOUSE CRICKET.

THIS insect is an inhabitant of almost every house. Its wings are tailed and longer than the wing-cases, the body is of a light green colour shaded with brown; and it is provided with six feet. It is said to delight in new built houses; being, like the spider, pleased with the moisture of walls; and besides, the softness of the mortar enables them to burrow and mine between the joints of the bricks or stones, and to open communications from one room to another. Yet they are particularly fond of kitchens and bakers' ovens, on account of their warmth. Residing as it were in a torrid zone, they are always alive and merry; and a good Christmas fire is to them like the heats of the dogdays. Though they are frequently heard by day, yet their natural time of motion is only in the night. As soon as it grows dusk, the chirping increases, and they come running forth, of all sizes, from the magnitude of a flea to that of their full growth. As one would suppose them to be (from the situations which they inhabit), they are a thirsty race, and show a great propensity for liquids, being found frequently drowned in pans of water, milk, broth, or the like. Whatever is moist they affect; and therefore often gnaw holes in wet woollen stockings and aprons that are hung to the fire. These Crickets are not only very thirsty, but very voracious; for they will eat the scummings of pots, yeast, salt, and crumbs of bread; and any kitchen offal or sweepings. In summer evenings they have been observed to fly out of the window, and over roofs of houses: this feat of activity accounts for the sud

den manner in which they often leave their haunts, as it does for the method by which they come to houses where they were not known before. It is remarkable that many sorts of insects seem never to use their wings but when they have a mind to shift their quarters and settle new colonies. When in the air, they move in waves or curves like woodpeckers, opening and shutting their wings at every stroke, and so are always rising and sinking. When they increase to a great degree, they become noisome pests, flying into candles, and dashing into people's faces; but may be blasted with gunpowder discharged into their crevices and crannies. Cats catch House Crickets, and playing with them as they do with mice, devour them. Crickets may be destroyed like wasps, by phials half filled with beer, or any liquid, and set in their haunts; for being always eager to drink, they will crowd in till the bottles are full. A popular prejudice, however, frequently prevents their being driven away and destroyed: the common people imagine that their presence brings a kind of luck to the house while they are in it, and think it would be hazardous to destroy them.

THE MOLE CRICKET.

THIS little creature, which among the insect tribes is a complete representative of the mole, is two inches and a half in length, and three quarters of an inch in breadth. Its fore feet are broad, and strong; and in their formation and position, bear a great resemblance to the fore feet of that animal. They are used for precisely the same purpose as those of moles, to burrow under the surface of the ground, where the insect commonly resides; and so expertly does it use them, that it can penetrate the earth with even greater expedition than the mole.

The female forms a cell of clammy earth, about the

size of a hen's egg, closed up on every side, and as large within as two hazel nuts. The eggs, amounting to nearly a hundred and fifty, are white, and about the size of carraway comfits; they are carefully covered, as well to defend them from the injuries of the weather as from the attacks of one of the species of black beetles, which often destroys them. The female places herself near the entrance of the nest, and, whenever the beetle attempts to seize its prey, the guardian insect catches it behind, and bites it asunder.

These insects, at the approach of winter, remove their nest to so great a depth in the earth as to have it always lower than the frost can penetrate. When the mild season comes on, they raise it in proportion to the advances of that favourable time, and at last elevate it so near to the surface as to render it susceptible both of air and sunshine; should, however, the frost return, they again sink it to its proper depth.

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THE Grasshopper has a head somewhat resembling that of a horse, and is of a lively green colour. It has four wings and six legs, the hinder legs being much longer than the others, in order to assist the insect in leaping. The corselet is armed with a strong buckler. The Grasshopper has three kinds of stomachs, which induces some naturalists to suppose that it chews the cud. The insect is oviparous, and lays about a hundred and fifty eggs, which are white, oval,

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