346 THE NATURAL HISTORY 



dissolve as soon as they are capable of liberating them- 

 selves ; but no sooner is this effected, than the elas- 

 ticity of the capsule, resulting from its form, causes 

 the two sides to close again, and the case resumes its 

 original appearance. We have more than once caught 

 a specimen of the female insect, with the egg-capsule 

 protruding more or less from the extremity of the 

 abdomen, and in nearly every capsule we have opened 

 we have found eighteen eggs, each securely packed in 

 a distinct division. 



Immediately following the Cockroaches, and belong- 

 ing to the same order, we find the House Cricket 

 (Acheta domestica), whose musical performances 

 throughout the summer months and occasionally in 

 winter, are highly interesting to the naturalist, if not 

 generally pleasing. To any one watching a cricket in 

 the act of chirping, as it is termed, it cannot seem less 

 than marvellous that such an ear-piercing effect should 

 be produced by such simple means. We have actually 

 heard the remark, that " a cricket must have a power 

 o' wind to cherrup so loud ; " but there are few persons 

 now-a-days who need to be told that the cricket is not 

 a wind instrument. It has two wings which, when not 

 in use, are closely folded longitudinally along the back 

 and partially concealed by two wing-cases, or rather 

 wing-covers. A portion of each wing-cover overlaps 

 the corresponding portion of the other, and where the 

 two are in contact, a system of ribs forming the 

 frame-work of these organs is found to constitute the 

 stridulating apparatus. The main rib of the upper 

 wing-cover, being finely notched transversely on the 

 under side, is made to act by a tremulous motion of 

 both wing-covers diagonally across the upper surface 

 of the main rib in the lower wing-cover, and the result 

 is a shrilly audible vibration of all the divisions of the 

 two organs. This description applies to the males 

 only, the principal ribs or nervures of the wing-covers 

 are so nearly parallel in the females, that these (ac- 



