On the Cicadae. 157 



they must have been bruised and mutilated. The only rational conjecture 

 that can be formed of the circumstance is, that the fish were transported 

 thither in a waterspout — a phenomenon that has before occurred in this 

 county, and which is by no means uncommon in tropical climates. The 

 Frith of Dingwall lies at the distance of three miles from the place in ques- 

 tion ; but no obstruction occurs between the field and the sea, the whole is 

 a level strath or plain, and waterspouts have been known to travel even far- 

 ther than this. Major Mackenzie has forwarded a small quantity of the 

 fish to the secretary of the Northern Institution. — Inverness Courier, April 

 1828. 



7. On the Cicada;, or Locusts of the State of Ohio. By Dr Hildreth. 



Our insects are so numerous and so various, that it would take a volume 

 to describe them alone. One of the most interesting and curious of this 

 class is the Cicada. It nearly resembles the harvest-fly, but is smaller. 

 They are said to appear only at stated periods, which some have fixed at 

 seventeen, and others at fourteen years. I have one record of their ap- 

 pearing in this country the 14th of May 1812. I was then told it was 

 seventeen years since they were last here, viz. in 1795. They gradually 

 disappeared, and by the first of July were all gone. The month of May 

 was cold and wet, and very unfavourable to the egress of the cicada from 

 the earth. From the 24th of May to the 3d of June their numbers in- 

 creased daily, at an astonishing rate. The cicada, or *i locust," as he is 

 vulgarly called, when he first rises from the earth, is about an inch and a 

 half in length, and one third of an inch in thickness. While making his 

 way to the surface, he has the appearance of a large worm or grub. The 

 hole which he makes is about the same diameter with his body, perpendi- 

 cular, and seems to be made with equal ease through the hardest clay or 

 softest mould. When they first rise from the earth, which is invariably 

 in the night, they are white and soft. They then attach themselves to 

 some bush, tree, or post, and wait until the action of the air has dried the 

 shell with which they are enveloped : the shell then bursts on the back 

 for about one third of its length, and through this opening the cicada 

 creeps as from a prison. Their bodies are then very tender, and they 

 can neither fly nor crawl to any considerable distance. In this state they 

 remain until morning, their wings gradually unfolding ; and as the day 

 increases, they, by little and little, and frequent attempts, learn to fly for 

 a few feet, so that by night they are able to fly for several rods. In their 

 efforts to disengage themselves from their shell or envelope, I noticed that 

 many of them lost their lives — either from a want of strength to burst 

 away, or from the narrowness of the passage, occasioned by their coming 

 to the surface of the ground too early ; and the action of the air drying, 

 burst their covering before their bodies were prepared for the changes 

 In a diary which I kept at the time I find the following observations. - 

 June 3. — Yesterday the cicadae were seen making preparation to lay their 



June 4.— The cicadae begin to deposit their eggs in the tender branches 



