SEVENTEEN YEARS UNDER GROUND. 375 



thy quite so readily. It is an old witicism, attributed 

 to the incorrigible llhodian sensualist, Xenarchus, and 

 gives a reason for the supposed happiness of the har- 

 vest-flies very different from that of Auacreon : 



' Happy the Cicadas' Hves, 

 Since they all have — voiceless wives V " 



"O the wretch !" exclaimed the Mistress, laughing. 



" To be sure, he was a wretch,"! remarked, "and a 

 fals6 philosopher at that, for my observation has been 

 that men are not only more curious, but more talkative 

 than women. But I am obliged to the old cynic, never- 

 theless, for his couplet shows that even at that early 

 date the fact had been observed that the males alone are 

 gifted with sound-producing organs." 



"I must not weary you with my quotations," the 

 Doctor resumed ; " but I may tell you that the rage for 

 decorating the person with images of insects, which 

 prevails so widely just now, is only a revival of an old 

 custom. The Athenian elders, even before the time of 

 Thucidides, were accustomed to fasten golden images 

 of the Cicadas in their hair, and the same were worn as 

 ornaments on dresses. These were emblems of their 

 claims to being Autocthones [Autox^ovE<;)., that is, 

 as we would say, Aborigines, original inhabitants of 

 the soil. The significance of the emblem lay in the 

 belief that Cicadas sprung from the soil, an origin 

 Avhich the Greeks might well be excused for attributing 

 to tliem in view of their peculiar habits. 



" I add tliat the Greeks, notwithstanding tlieir ven- 



