ENTOMOLOGICAL. 77 



You. see it is in the muscular power of the two hind legs : 

 they form a solid compact mass of muscular fibre, every 

 bit of which is a true mechanical spring, enabling the 

 creature to make those remarkable leaps which is cha- 

 racteristic of the class of insects belonging to what the 

 entomologist calls Orthoptera, signifying " straightwing," 

 on account of the manner in which the under wings are 

 folded below the upper. 



I believe it was a German author who, writing about 

 the house-cricket, described it and the class to which it 



Locust. 



belongs, which is the same as Locusta, as " praising the 

 Lord by rubbing their legs together : " it was very true, 

 if very strange, language. Let us compare the wing-case 

 of the cricket with others of its family. See, here is one ; 

 it is that of the male, who uses his musical instrument, 

 like a good husband as he is, to please his wife. On the 

 wings of the grasshopper you may count upwards of fifty 

 tooth-like keys, which are very similar to those on the 

 cricket. 



It seems reasonable to believe that the variety of 

 sounds produced by insects are intended for signals to 



