The Life of the Grasshopper 



normal evolution. Thereupon, suddenly, 

 the organism does not fulfil its promises; it 

 is false to its engagements; it leaves the 

 adult insect without sails, leaves it with only 

 useless rags. 



Are we to lay this nudity to the charge 

 of the harsh conditions of Alpine life? Not 

 at all, for the other hoppers, living on the 

 same grassy slopes, manage very well to 

 achieve the wings foretold by the larva's 

 rudiments. 



Men tell us that, from one attempt to an- 

 other, from progress to progress, under the 

 stimulus of necessity, animals end by ac- 

 quiring this or that organ. No other crea- 

 tive intervention is accepted than that of 

 need. This, for instance, is the way in 

 which the Locusts went to work, in particu- 

 lar those whom I see fluttering over the 

 ridges of the Ventoux. From their nig- 

 gardly larval flaps they are supposed to have 

 extracted wings and wing-cases, by virtue 

 of secret and mysterious labours rendered 

 fruitful by the centuries. 



Very well, O my illustrious masters ! And 

 now tell me, if you please, what reasons per- 

 suaded the Pedestrian Locust not to go be- 

 yond his rude outline of a flying-apparatus. 



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