SEVENTEEN TEARS UNDER GROUND. 361 



das,' by the ominous name of Mocusts,' people have 

 thoughtlessly jumped at the conclusion that tliey must 

 have the same voracious appetite as the 'locusts,' 

 whose dreadfully destructive habits are so -wgW de- 

 scribed in Holy Scripture. However, this is aside 

 from our natural history, to which wc had better return. 



'' The eggs of tlie harvest-lly hatch in about six weeks 

 after being deposited. The young insect wlien it bursts 

 the shell is one-sixteenth of an inch long. In form it is 

 somewhat grub-like, being longer in proportion than the 

 parent insect. It is furnished with six legs, the first 

 pair of which are very large, shaped almost like lobster- 

 claws, and armed with strong spines beneath. On the 

 shoulders arc little prominences in the place of wings, 

 and under the breast is a long beak for suction. The 

 little creatures, when liberated from the shell or fine 

 membrane which envelopes them after leaving the 

 eggs, are very livel}', and their movements are as 

 sprightly as ants. Now follows a very interesting act 

 of instinct. There the wee bodies are, far up at the 

 top of the tree; but Nature has decreed them a life 

 under ground. How do they get there ?" 



'' Wy crawl down the tree," exclaimed Harry. 



"No; that would, indeed, seem au easy way. But 

 many perils might lurk in that winding path along the 

 twigs, branches, and trunk. Nature has provided a 

 better wa}*. Tlie motlier Cicada has fortunately lO' 

 cated her egg-nests near the tips of the outer limbs. 

 And now, moved by a law which none of us can pre- 

 sume to comprehend, the young insects run to the side 



