363 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. 



of the twig and deliberately loof^en their hold. Their 

 speciiic gravity is so small that they fall through the air 

 as softly as a feather. On reaching the ground they 

 immediately bury themselves in the soil, burrowing by 

 means of their broad and strong fore-feet, which, like 

 those of the mole, are admiral)ly adapted for digging," 

 (Fig. 117.) 



"This is wonderfid !"' exclaimed Aunt Hannah, lay- 

 ing down her knitting work. " AVho would have thought 

 to find such vs'isdom in so insignificant a creature ?" 



" Wonderful, indeed !" added the Mistress, and Abby 

 echoed the note. 



"But," queried the Doctor, " is it quite accurate to 

 think of such behaviour as you describe as the result of 

 wisdom in the young Cicadas ? Doesn't this look like 

 a case of fore-ordination in Xature, which requires one 

 to postulate an Outride and Inlinite Wisdom ?" 



" Let me read you," I I'esponded, taking a vohnue 

 from the table, " what the eminent naturalist, Dr. Har- 

 ris, says, an author to whom I am indebted for much of 

 the information here given. This is Avhat he writes on 

 this point : ' The instinct which impels them [the 

 young Cicadas] thus fearlessly to precipitate themselves 

 from the trees, from heights of which they can have 

 formed no conception, without any experience or 

 knowledge ^of tiie results of their adventurous leap, is 

 still more remarkable than that which carries a gosling 

 to the water as soon as it is hatched. In those actions 

 that are the result of foresight, of memory, or of ex- 

 perience, animals are controlled by their own reason : 



