The Life of the Grasshopper 



talk authoritatively of a steady progression 

 which makes the middling follow on the bad 

 and the excellent on the middling. We see 

 nothing but abrupt excursions, intermittences, 

 recoils, sudden expansions not foretold by 

 what has gone before nor continued by that 

 which follows; we find nothing but a riddle 

 whose solution does not lie in the virtues of 

 the cell alone, that easy pillow for whoso 

 has not the courage to search deeper. 



But let us leave the question of origins, 

 that inaccessible domain, and come down to 

 facts; let us cross-examine a few representa- 

 tives of those old races who were the earliest 

 exponents of the art of sounds and took it 

 into their heads to sing at a time when the 

 mud of the first continents was hardening; 

 let us ask them how their instrument is con- 

 structed and what is the object of their ditty. 



The Grasshopper, so remarkable both for 

 the length and thickness of her hinder thighs 

 and for her ovipositor, the sabre or dibble 

 which plants her eggs, is one of the chief 

 performers in the entomological concert. In- 

 deed, if we except the Cicada, who is often 

 confused with her, she is responsible for the 

 greater part of the noise. Only one of 

 the Orthoptera surpasses her; and that is 



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