318 BERTHA'S VISIT TO HER 



each line of the column ; and this, finally mul- 

 tiplied by the 190 millions, gives the almost 

 inconceivable 'total of 168,608,563,200,000 in 

 this one swarm of locusts ! 



" I should like to know," said Mary, " the 

 exact size of these creatures." 



The Colonel said that he could not answer 

 exactly, without referring to his journals, which 

 were in town, but that he imagined they were 

 about the same size as a large grasshopper : 

 " But why do you want their exact dimensions?" 

 Mary said she would have tried what sized 

 mountain they would have made if they were all 

 heaped together. Frederick, who is a great col- 

 lector of grubs and insects, immediately brought 

 down some dried grasshoppers, but they were 

 very small ; and after much consultation, it was 

 agreed to assume two inches for the length, and 

 a third of an inch for the breadth and thickness 

 of a locust. In a short time, Mary announced, 

 as the result of her calculation, that the whole 

 quantity would amount to 4818 millions of cubic 

 yards, 



" But in order to compare this huge mass with 

 some tangible standard," said my uncle, " let us 

 see what proportion it bears to the largest pyra- 

 mid of Egypt. According to the measurement 

 of Dr. Greaves, the base of the pyramid of 

 Cheops is 693 feet, and its perpendicular alti- 

 tude is 499 feet." 



