INTELLIGENCE OF THE CELL 231 



when he is hunting? Still our great German philosopher, 

 like all other scientists, calls this being, this intelligent 

 hunter who makes his own weapons, with which he is 

 able to kill his victim at 'a distance, only a "plasm" or 

 "living matter." 



We never have time in our busy lives to stop and con- 

 sider all the wonderful things which take place in the 

 living world around us. The acts of insects are simply 

 astonishing. I read the following in my Sunday paper 

 the other day, which mentions a few of their perform- 

 ances : 



"David Fairchild, the plant explorer, has discovered 

 that the champion athlete and aeronaut of the insect 

 world is the king grasshopper. It can jump one hundred 

 times its own length, and has been known to sail for one 

 thousand miles before the wind. 



"The carrying power of the song of the cricket is extra- 

 ordinary. There are species whose strident notes can be 

 heard for a mile, although their bodies are scarcely more 

 than an inch in length. The males alone are musical. 



"Of all creatures in our houses, the cockroach is the 

 most detested. Housewives may be surprised to learn 

 that a cockroach can live five years, and that it takes a 

 year to develope to maturity. The female lays her eggs 

 in a horny capsule like a spectacle case, which she carries 

 about with her until she is ready to deposit it in some 

 suitable place. Later she returns to help her baby cock- 

 roaches out of their shells. 



"The song of the cicada is the noisiest in the insect 

 world. The seventeen-year cicada has been called the 

 Rip Van Winkle of the insect world. From its tiny eggs 

 there issues a creature with soft white body and mole- 

 like front legs. - It hurries to the ground and disappears 

 beneath its surface, sometimes to thp deoth nf twenty 



