phasmida, founded on a difference in the structure of the foot or leg; this member, in the former, being raptorious, is provided with a sharp claw, and a hollow on the leg and thigh, and a double series of spurs, for the better securing its prey; and in the latter, being destitute of any such peculiarity. One of the species, (gongylodes) when alive and fresh, resembles a blade of grass, differing in colour according to the season, being green and succulent in the rains, and in dry weather so much like a withered straw, that it can They are with difficulty be distinguished. Th very ferocious, and in China the fighting mantis forms as much the favourite amusement of boys, who carry them about in cages for the purpose, as cock-fighting in England. Trans. Asiatic Soc. Calcutta, THE CRICKET. Why do we use the simile, “merry as a cricket?” Because, quitting its summer abode, about the end of August, and fixing its residence by the fireside of kitchens or cottages, the cricket is as merry at Christmas, as other insects in the dog-days. Herrick, among the pleasures of a country life, quaintly sings to his brother, Yet can thy roof maintain a quire, And the brisk mouse may feast herself with crumbs, The grasshopper and cricket race effect their wellknown and often wearisome chirpings by grating their spiny thighs against their rigid wings. LOCUSTS, Why are locusts the scourge of oriental countries? Because their devastations are so formidable, as sometimes to cause general scarcity and famine. They have likewise swarmed in Europe. In 1748 they appeared, but did not propagate, in England. In 1650, a cloud of locusts entered Russia, and afterwards spread over Poland and Lithuania, so as to darken the air and cover the earth, when dead, in some places, to the depth of four feet; the trees bent with their weight. In the year 591, an army of unusually large locusts ravaged Italy, and being at last cast into the sea, (as seems for the most part to be their fate) a pestilence, it is alleged, arose from their stench, which carried off nearly a million of men and beasts. In the Venetian territory, likewise, in 1478, more than 30,000 persons are said to have perished in a famine chiefly occasioned by the depredations of locusts. Why are these insects called the locusts of scripture? Because they are the species so accurately described in the Bible. Thus, in Joel ii. 2, &c. "A fire devoureth before them, and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness: yea, and nothing shall escape them. The sound of their wings is as the sound of chariots, of many horses unning to battle; on the tops of the mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. Before their faces the people shall be much pained; all faces shall gather blackness. They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one in his ways, and they shall not break their ranks; neither shall one thrust another.” Why has so much controversy arisen on "locusts and wild honey," the food of John the Baptist, in the wil derness? Because the commentators have interpreted the former as the fruit of the cassia-fistula, or locust-tree, resembling tamarinds; and other substitutes. Dr. Clarke, the traveller, was one of the first to propagate this misconception. There is, however, no doubt of the insects being the food, since Hasselquist mentions locusts being eaten by the Arabs, so that probably this dish was used in the time of St. John. Mr. Forbes, the Oriental traveller, corroborates this account, and adds, "The wild honey is found in the clefts of the rocks of Judea, as abundantly as in the caves of Hindustan." THE LANTERN FLY. Why is the lantern fly so called? Because it emits a strong light from a horny bladder on the head, almost as large as the whole body, so that the natives of Guinea use them as lanterns. The light, according to Mad. Merian, is sufficient to read a newspaper by. THE FROTH WORM. Why is white froth so frequently seen in summer on willows, rose-trees, grass, &c. ? Because it is thrown up by the larva of the cuckoospit frog-hopper, as a protection from the sun, the creature being exceedingly soft. The name of "cuckoospit" is therefore a popular mistake. APHIDES. Why do aphides or plant lice increase so rapidly? Because one impregnation not only renders fertile the eggs of the individual, but the animals produced from these, and the eggs of these again, unto the ninth generation. Philos. Transactions. Why are the aphides, so often seen on apple-trees, called white blight? Because they are lodged upon the limbs of the trees in a hoary and cottony substance, beneath which these wingless creatures prey upon the tree by means of a beak terminating in a fine bristle; this being insinuated through the bark and the sappy part of the wood, enables the creature to extract, as with a syringe, the sweet vital liquor that circulates in the plant, till the tree perishes limb by limb. This insect produces its young alive, forming a cradle for them by 1 1 discharging from the extremities of its body a quantity of long cottony matter, which becoming interwoven and entangled, prevents the young from falling to the earth, completely envelopes the parent and offspring, and serves as a vehicle for dispersing the wingless animal in tufts wafted by the winds from tree to tree throughout the whole orchard. When the long cottony vesture is removed, the insects are still enveloped in a fine short downy clothing, to be seen by a magnifier, proceeding apparently from every suture or pore of their bodies, and protecting them in their dormant state from the moisture and frosts of our climate. Mr. Knapp thinks the epithet, American blight,' may be correctly applied to this insect, but we have no sufficient authority to conclude that we derived the pest from that country. Why are aphides never seen in the flower of the rose, although they infest the stalk leaves? Because of the odour of the flower. Why are the larvæ of lace-winged flies called the lions of aphides? Because they devour the latter with great voracity, sucking the juices of their victims with their crescentshaped and hollow mandibles. The transparent wings of some insects are so attenuated in their structure, that 50,000 of them, placed over each other, would not form a pile a quarter of an inch in height. KERMES AND LAC. Why is the kermes so highly prized? Because, in the south of Europe, where it is found, on holly, carmine is prepared by sprinkling vinegar on the berry or gall-shaped nests of this animal's eggs. Why is gum-lac so called? Because it is the produce of the lac-insect, on the hilly parts of Hindostan. Blumenbach says, "a white |