THE GKEY LOCUST 303 



and equally knotty, have slipped out as easily as though 

 they were smooth, slippery objects sliding out of a 

 loose sheath. The method of extraction is still more 

 astonishing in the case of the hind-legs. 



It is now, however, the turn of the front and inter- 

 mediate pairs of legs. They pull out of their gauntlets 

 and leggings without the least hitch ; nothing is torn, 

 nothing buckled ; the outer skin is not even crumpled, 

 and all the tissues remain in their natural position. The 

 insect is now hanging from the dome of the cover solely 

 by the claws of the long hind-legs. It hangs in an 

 almost vertical position, the head downwards, swinging 

 like a pendulum if I touch the cover. Four tiny, steely 

 claws are its only support. If they gave or unclasped 

 themselves the insect would be lost, as it is as yet unable 

 to unfurl its enormous wings ; but even had the wings 

 emerged they could not grip the air in time to save the 

 creature from the consequences of a fall. But the four 

 claws hold fast ; life, before withdrawing from them, left 

 them rigidly contracted, so that they should support 

 without yielding the struggles and withdrawals to follow. 



Now the wing-covers and wings emerge. These are 

 four narrow strips, vaguely seamed and furrowed, like 

 strings of rolled tissue-paper. They are barely a quarter 

 of their final length. 



They are so soft that they bend under their own 

 weight, and hang down the creature's sides in the 

 reverse of their normal position. The free extremities, 

 which normally point backwards, are now pointing 

 towards the cricket's head as it hangs reversed. The 

 organs of future flight are like four leaves of withered 

 foliage shattered bv a terrific rainstorm. 



