The Life of the Grasshopper 



its length. It is useless to search for the rub- 

 bish which this excavation ought, one would 

 think, to produce; we see none anywhere. 

 The tunnel ends in a blind alley, in a rather 

 wider chamber, with level walls and not the 

 least vestige of communication with any 

 gallery prolonging the well. 



Reckoned by its length and its diameter, 

 the excavation represents a volume of about 

 twelve cubic inches. What has become of 

 the earth removed? Sunk in very dry and 

 very loose soil, the well and the chamber at 

 the bottom ought to have crumbly walls, 

 which would easily fall in, if nothing else 

 had taken place but the work of boring. My 

 surprise was great to find, on the contrary, 

 coated surfaces, washed with a paste of 

 clayey earth. They are not by a long way 

 what one could call smooth, but at any rate 

 their irregularities are covered with a layer 

 of plaster; and their slippery materials, 

 soaked with some agglutinant, are kept in 

 position. 



The larva can move about and climb 

 nearly up to the surface and down again to 

 its refuge at the bottom without producing, 

 with its clawed legs, landslips which would 

 block the tube, making ascent difficult and 



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