Pairing and Hunting 281 



waiting for the bite to take effect. I then take 

 the insect and carefully strip it of its silken 

 shroud. The Locust is not dead, far from it ; 

 one would even think that he had suffered no 

 harm. I examine the released prisoner through 

 the lens in vain ; I can see no trace of a 

 wound. 



Can he be unscathed, in spite of the sort of 

 kiss which I saw given to him just now ? You 

 would be ready to say so, judging by the furious 

 way in which he kicks in my fingers. Never- 

 theless, when put on the ground, he walks 

 awkwardly, he seems reluctant to hop. Per- 

 haps it is a temporary trouble, caused by his 

 terrible excitement in the web. It looks as 

 though it would soon pass. 



I lodge my Locusts in cages, with a lettuce- 

 leaf to console them for their trials ; but they 

 will not be comforted. A day elapses, followed 

 by a second. Not one of them touches the leaf 

 of salad ; their appetite has disappeared. 

 Their movements become more uncertain, as 

 though hampered by irresistible torpor. On 

 the second day, they are dead, every one irre- 

 coverably dead. 



