18 HISTORY OF 



and into the hole which her instrument has made 

 she deposits her eggs, one after the other. 



Having thus provided for the continuation of 

 her posterity, the animal herself does not long- 

 survive ; but, as the winter approaches, she dries 

 up, seems to feel the effects of age, and dies from 

 a total decay. Some however assert, that she is 

 killed by the cold, and others, that she is eaten 

 by worms ; but certain it is, that neither the male 

 nor female are ever seen to survive the winter. 

 In the mean time, the eggs which have been de- 

 posited continue unaltered, either by the severity 

 of the season, or the retardation of the spring. 

 They are of an oval figure, white, and of the con- 

 sistence of horn ; their size nearly equals that of a 

 grain of anise ; they are enveloped in the body 

 within a covering, branched all over with veins and 

 arteries ; and when excluded, they crack on being 

 pressed between the fingers: their substance with- 

 in is a whitish, viscous, and transparent fluid. In 

 this manner they remain deposited beneath the 

 surface of the earth during the whole winter, till 

 the genial return of spring begins to vivify and 

 hatch them. The sun with its warmth beginning 

 to animate all nature, the insect eggs feel its be- 

 nign influence, and generally, about the beginning 

 of May, every egg produces an insect, about the 

 size of a flea. These at first are of a whitish co- 

 lour ; at the end of two or three days they turn 

 black, and soon after they become of a reddish- 

 brown. They appear, from the beginning, like 

 grasshoppers wanting wings, and hop among the 

 grass, as soon as excluded, with great agility. 



