The Life of the Grasshopper 



ganizable matter shape itself into a sheet 

 of gauze and describe the inextricable laby- 

 rinth of the nervation. There is a primary 

 plan, an ideal pattern which assigns to each 

 atom its precise place. Before the matter 

 begins to move, the configuration is already 

 virtually traced, the courses of the plastic 

 currents are already marked out. The 

 stones of our buildings are arranged in ac- 

 cordance with the architect's considered plan; 

 they form an ideal assemblage before exist- 

 ing as a real assemblage. Similarly, a Lo- 

 cust's wing, that sumptuous piece of lace 

 emerging from a miserable sheath, speaks to 

 us of another Architect, the Author of the 

 plans which life must follow in its labours. 



The genesis of living creatures offers to 

 our contemplation, in an infinity of ways, 

 marvels far greater than those of the 

 Acridian; but generally they pass unper- 

 ceived, overshadowed as they are by the veil 

 of time. The lapse of years, with its slow 

 mysteries, robs us of the most astonishing 

 spectacles, unless our minds be endowed with 

 a stubborn patience. Here, by exception, 

 things take place with a swiftness that arrests 

 even a wavering attention. 



He who would, without wearisome delays, 



420 





