110 CAMEL CRICKET, OR 



Wretched man, whose years are spent, 

 In repining discontent, 

 Lives not, aged thougli he be, 

 Half a span, compared with thee. 



Camel Cricket, or Praying Maktis. 



The name Mantis, given to this insect? 

 denotes Soothsayer; because it has been 

 imagined, that by stretching out its fore-feet, 

 it divined and pointed out those things that 

 were asked of it. This insect, which is a 

 stranger to the British isles, is found in most 

 of the warmer parts of Europe, and is 

 entirely of a beautiful green colour. It is 

 nearly three inches in length, of a slender 

 shape, and in its general sitting posture is 

 observed to hold up the two fore legs slightly 

 bent, as if in an attitude of prayer ; for this 

 reason the superstition of the vulgar has con- 

 firmed upon it the reputation of a sacred 

 animal ; and a popular notion has often pre- 

 vailed, that a child or traveller having lost 

 his way, would be safely directed by observ- 

 ing the quarter to which the animal pointed 



