The Life of the Grasshopper 



with that remarkably quick metamorphosis 

 a cuhnary question arises. According to 

 Aristotle, CIcadse were a highly-appreciated 

 dish among the Greeks. I am not acquainted 

 with the great naturalist's text: humble vil- 

 lager that I am, my library possesses no such 

 treasure. I happen, however, to have before 

 me a venerable tome which can tell me just 

 what I want to know. I refer to Matthiolus' 

 Commentaries on Dioscorides^ As an emi- 

 nent scholar, who must have known his 

 Aristotle very well, Matthiolus inspires me 

 with complete confidence. Now he says : 



" Minim non est quod dixerit Aristoteles, 

 cicadas esse gustu suavissimas antequam 

 tettigometra rumpatur cortex.'* 



Knowing that tettigometra^ or mother of 

 the Cicada, Is the expression used by the 

 ancients to denote the larva, we see that, 

 according to Aristotle, the CIcadae possess a 

 flavour most delicious to the taste before the 

 bark or outer covering of the matrix bursts. 



* Pletro Andrea Mattioli (1500-1577), known as 

 Matthiolus, a physician and naturalist who practised at 

 Siena and Rome. His Commentaries on Dioscorides 

 were published in Italian, at Venice, in 1544 and in Latin 

 in 1554. — Translator's Note. 



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