278 HOUSE-CRICKETS. 



ther distance every morning ; so that it appears that, 

 on this emergency, they made use of their wings in 

 attempting to return to the spot from which they 

 were taken. 



One of these crickets, when confined in a paper 

 cage, and set in the sun, and supplied with plants 

 moistened with water, will feed and thrive, and be- 

 come so merry and loud as to be irksome in the same 

 room where a person is sitting : if the plants are not 

 wetted, it will die. 



LETTER LXXXIX. 



^ ) 



TO THE SAME. 



SELBORNE. 



" Far from all resort of mirth 

 Save the cricket on the hearth." 



MILTON'S II Penseroso. 



DEAR SIR, 



WHILE many other insects must be sought after 

 in fields, and woods, and waters, the gryllus domes- 

 ticus, or house -cricket, resides altogether within our 

 dwellings, intruding itself upon our notice whether 

 we will or no. This species delights in new-built 

 houses, being, like the spider, pleased with the 

 moisture of the walls ; and, besides, the softness of 

 the mortar enables them to burrow and mine between 

 the joints of the bricks or stones, and to open com- 

 munications from one room to another. They are 

 particularly fond of kitchens and bakers' ovens, on 

 account of their perpetual warmth. 



Tender insects that live abroad either enjoy only 

 the short period of one summer, or else doze away 



