40 SOCIAL LITE IN THE INSECT WORLD 



siderable zeal. I see them ranged in rows on the smooth 

 rind of the plane-trees, all with their heads uppermost, 

 the two sexes mingled, and only a few inches apart. 



The proboscis thrust into the bark, they drink, motion- 

 less. As the sun moves, and with it the shadow, they 

 also move round the branch with slow lateral steps, so 

 as to keep upon that side which is most brilliantly illu- 

 minated, most fiercely heated. Whether the proboscis 

 is at work or not the song is never interrupted. 



Now are we to take their interminable chant for a 

 passionate love-song ? I hesitate. In this gathering the 

 two sexes are side by side. One does not spend months 

 in calling a person who is at one's elbow. Moreover, I 

 have never seen a female rush into the midst of even the 

 most deafening orchestra. Sight is a sufficient prelude 

 to marriage, for their sight is excellent. There is no 

 need for the lover to make an everlasting declaration, for 

 his mistress is his next-door neighbour. 



Is the song a means of charming, of touching the hard 

 of heart ? I doubt it. I observe no sign of satisfaction 

 in the females ; I have never seen them tremble or sway 

 upon their feet, though their lovers have clashed their 

 cymbals with the most deafening vigour. 



My neighbours the peasants say that at harvest-time 

 the Cigale sings to them : Sego, sego, sego ! (Reap, reap, 

 reap 1) to encourage them in their work. Harvesters of 

 ideas and of ears of grain, we follow the same calling ; 

 the latter produce food for the stomach, the former food 

 for the mind. Thus I understand their explanation and 

 welcome it as an example of gracious simplicity. 



Science asks for a better explanation, but finds in the 

 insect a world which is closed to us. There is no possi- 



