The Life of the Grasshopper 



structure Is the same? Perhaps to the differ- 

 ence of diet. FrugaHty, in fact, softens char- 

 acter, in animals as in men; gross feeding 

 brutahzes It. The gormandizer gorged with 

 meat and strong drink, a fruitful source of 

 savage outbursts, could not possess the gen- 

 tleness of the ascetic who dips his bread into 

 a cup of milk. The Mantis is that gorman- 

 dizer, the Empusa that ascetic. 



Granted. But whence does the one derive 

 her voracious appetite, the other her tem- 

 perate ways, when It would seem as though 

 their almost Identical structure ought to pro- 

 duce an Identity of needs? These insects tell 

 us, In their fashion, what many have already 

 told us: that propensities and aptitudes do 

 not depend exclusively upon anatomy; high 

 above the physical laws that govern matter 

 rise other laws that govern instincts. 



210 



