The Cricket: the Eggs 



end of the passage is the bedroom, the 

 terminal alcove, a little more carefully 

 smoothed than the rest and slightly wider. 

 All said, it is a very simple abode, exceed- 

 ingly clean, free from damp and conforming 

 with the requirements of a well-considered 

 system of hygiene. On the other hand, it 

 is an enormous undertaking, a regular Cy- 

 clopean tunnel, when we consider the modest 

 means of excavation. Let us try to be pre- 

 sent at the work. Let us also enquire at what 

 period the enterprise begins. This obliges 

 us to go back to the egg. 



Any one wishing to see the Cricket lay 

 p her eggs can do so without making great 

 preparations : all that he w^ants is a little 

 I patience, which, according to Buffon, is 

 1 genius, but which I, more modestly, will 

 " describe as the observer's chief virtue. In 

 April, or at latest in May, v/e establish iso- 

 lated couples of the insect in flower-pots con- 

 taining a layer of heaped-up earth. Their 

 provisions consist of a lettuce-leaf renewed 

 from time to time. A square of glass covers 

 the retreat and prevents escape. 



Some extremely interesting facts can be 

 obtained with this simple installation, supple- 

 mented, if need be, wuth a wire-gauze cover, 



313 



