ORDER III. STRAIGHT-WINGED INSECTS. 



105 



multiply as they do in other countries. This, however, as 

 has been remarked, is impossible as long as we have so 

 many reptiles and birds to devour them. 



The Katydid (Platyphyllum concavum). 

 The KATYDID is one of the most conspicuous Grasshop- 

 pers of North America. In the cool evenings of autumn 

 its melancholy song reverberates from every tree in our or- 

 chards and forests, and its jiever-ceasing complaint, that 

 Katy did, has not only suggested a thousand pleasant rec- 

 ollections, but has often occasioned many curious and poet- 

 ical conjectures as to its origin and significance. I use the 

 word significance in its most extended sense, for I know no- 

 thing in nature that is insignificant. Every voice, every 

 sound, each warbling note that echoes in the empty air, and 

 every act of animated nature, has some deep, often myste- 

 rious meaning. To the thoughtful mind all convey some 

 important moral lesson, either in the garb and soul of po- 

 etical association, or by the stronger and more irresistible 

 force of example. The busy bee, that improves each shin- 

 ing hour, can not fail of favorably impressing us with the 

 contentment and the sure success that follows patient and 

 persevering industry. The slimy and venomous reptiles ex- 

 cite our disgust and abhorrence, and unconsciously teach us 

 how to regard their groveling similitudes. The ever con- 

 stant and faithful dog that bears us company is ever silent- 

 ly but surely impressing upon us the great lesson of fidelity. 

 The gentle lamb, that even " licks the hand just raised to 

 shed its blood," shows us not only 



"Blindness to the future, kindly given, 

 That each may fill the circle marked by Heaven ;" 



but it affords us the most striking example of confiding in- 

 nocence and spotless purity. The metamorphosis of the 

 crawling caterpillar into the beautiful and lively butterfly 

 has in all ages proved a lesson of comfort and of hope to 



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