HOUSE-CRICKET. 235 



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 LXXXIX. 



TO THE HON. DAINES BARR1NGTOX. 



SELBORKE. 



Far from all resort of mirth 

 Save the cricket on the hearth. 



MILTON'S 11 Penseroso. 



DEAR SIR, 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, f 



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, 



* Acheia domestica, Fabricius. ED. 



f These animals are exceedingly pugnacious, and fight desperately with 

 each other. We have frequently captured crickets, and, having put 

 them into a tumbler covered with paper, have witnessed their battles. 

 Upon more than one occasion we have known them eat each other. We 

 left three of them together in a tumbler, along with some pieces of bread, 

 and, on examining them on the following day, two had been completely 

 devoured, except three of the limbs and the antennae. The survivor was 

 quite brisk and lively. In return for his misdeeds, we terminated the 

 existence of this insect cannibal, and placed him in our cabinet. Latreille 

 informs us that this cricket eats only insects, and certainly thrives well 

 in houses infested by cockroches. We had always supposed that they 

 lived upon bread, until we discovered them devouring each other. ED. 



