198 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 24, NO. 7-8, OCT.-NOV., 1922 



Other poetical passages in recent authors are readily referable 

 to the cicada, as: 



"The harvest-fly with sudden jingling sound, 

 Rings his triangle in the drowsy trees, 

 He bids us note wan Summer drifting by, 

 Her robe scarce stirring in the languid breeze. " 



Belle A. Hitchcock. 



Chas. G. D. Roberts, Mrs. J. G. Wilson and other recent 

 American poets have noticed the Cicadae in poetry. 



Although the Aphids swarm in countless numbers over nearly 

 all the common plants of the field during summer, it has re- 

 mained for Erasmus Darwin to raise a lone and albeit somewhat 

 quavering voice in their behalf: 



"The countless Aphides, prolific tribe 

 With greedy trunks the honey's sap imbibe; 

 Swarm on each leaf with eggs or embryons big, 

 And pendant nations tenant every twig." 



of Society. 



Because of their amazingly swift flight and ferocious habits, 

 perhaps it is not to be wondered at that the dragon-flies have 

 ever been regarded by country folk with a species of superstitious 

 awe. In the 16th century the vulgar name for the insects in 

 England was "adder's boulte" and to this day they are "devil's- 

 darning-needles" to many people of intelligence; while in Penn- 

 sylvania they are "snake-doctors" or "snake-feeders," and to 

 be avoided as one would a pestilence ! The poets, however, have 

 seen nothing but their beautiful colors and aerial maneuvers, 

 and only the poets of comparatively recent times have sung of 

 them. Thomas Moore apparently is the first poet who notices 

 them and he mentions the Agrionidae: 



"The beautiful blue damsel-flies 

 That flutter'd round the jasmine stems 

 Like winged flowers or flying gems." 



And Jean Ingelow, who was contemporary, sings of the Libellu- 

 lidae: 



"And forth on floating gauze, no jewelled queen 

 So rich, the green-eyed dragon-flies would break, 

 And hover on the flowers most aerial things, 

 With little rainbows flickering on their wings." 



Longfellow, Browning, Meredith, MacDonald, Whittier, Bry- 

 ant, and many others have done likewise, but the finest lines of 

 all, at least from an entomological point of view, are those of 

 Tennyson's in The Two Voices: 



