OF SELBOENE 199 



turf. The new inhabitants stayed some time, and fed and sung ; 

 but wandered away by degrees, and were heard at a farther dis- 

 tance every morning ; so that it appears that on this emergency 

 they made use of their wings in attempting to return to the spot 

 from which they were taken. 



One of these crickets, when confined in a paper cage and set 

 in the sun, and supplied with plants moistened with water, will 

 feed and thrive, and become so merry and loud as to be irksome 

 in the same room where a person is sitting : if the plants are not 

 wetted it will die. 



LETTER XLVII. 



TO THE SAME. 



Selborne. 

 DEAR SIR, 



' ' Far from all resort of mirth 



" Save the cricket on the hearth." MILTON'S // Penseroso. 



WHILE many other insects must be sought after in fields and 

 woods, and waters, the gryllus domesticus, or house-cricket, resides 

 altogether within our dwellings, intruding itself upon our notice 

 whether we will or no. This species delights in new-built houses, 

 being, like the spider, pleased with the moisture of the walls ; 

 and besides, the softness of the mortar enables them to burrow 

 and mine between the joints of the bricks or stones, and to open 

 communications from one room to another. They are particularly 

 fond of kitchens and bakers' ovens, on account of their perpetual 

 warmth. 



Tender insects that live abroad either enjoy only the short 

 period of one summer, or else doze away the cold uncomfortable 

 months in profound slumbers ; but these, residing as it were in 

 a torrid zone, are always alert and merry : a good Christmas fire 

 is to them like the heats of the dog-days. Though they are 

 frequently heard by day, yet is their natural time of motion only 

 in the night. As soon as it grows dusk, the chirping increases, 

 and they come running forth, and are from the size of a flea to 

 that of their full stature. As one should suppose, from the burn- 

 ing atmosphere which they inhabit, they are a thirsty race, and 

 show a great propensity for liquids, being found frequently drowned 



