284 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. 



that the Lord consults crickets ur any other sort uvbug 

 about the gover'ment uv human beins. But supposin' 

 we ax Mr. Mayfield about this matter. He's chock full 

 uv all kin's uv inseck larnin', an' '11 straighten it out 

 fer us." 



So it came about that the crickets were made the sub- 

 ject of an evening's discourse, and the topic broadened 

 out into "Insect Music." Fortunately, Dr. Goodman 

 had an engagement to preach and conduct a children's 

 service in the "Blue Church," a free place for public 

 religious service in our neighborhood, and as he was 

 to be our guest, drove over Saturday afternoon, and 

 was thus present at our Conversation. 



" Without stopping at present," I began, " to settle 

 the points raised concerning the popular notions about 

 crickets, I would like you first of all to know something 

 about the natural history of the insects themselves. 

 They belong to the sub-order Orthoptera, which maybe 

 briefly characterized as having free biting mouth parts, 

 with highly developed organs of nutrition and diges- 

 tion. The first pair of wings arc somewhat thickened 

 to protect the broad net-veined hinder pair which fold 

 up like a fan upon the abdomen, and tlie hind legs are 

 large and adapted for leaping. The larvre and pupa? are 

 both active, and closely resemble the imago or perfect 

 insect. All the species are terrestrial, having no quali- 

 fications for water life, and the most typical forms have 

 remarkable powers of flight, besides leaping powerfully. 

 The grasshopper is the type of the group, and some of 

 its best-known forms are the crickets, grasshoppers, 



