CRICKETS HARBINGERS OF GOOD. 97 



houses, while the grasshopper is a dweller out of 

 doors, I shall principally confine my observations to 

 the former insect {Acheta domestica Lin.), and to 

 others of the same genus. 



In this part of the country, it is a common belief 

 that the appearance of crickets in a house is a good 

 omen, and prognosticates cheerfulness and plenty. 

 That this opinion is generally entertained, may be 

 inferred from the manner in which it has been em- 

 bodied by Cowper, in his Address to the Cricket 



" Chirping on Iiis kitchen hearth. " 



His words are, — 



" Wheresoe'er be thine abode, 

 Always harbinger of good." * 



" There needs no ghost from the grave, to tell us" 

 that the error is a very common one, which attributes 

 the actions of many of the inferior animals not to 

 causes actually in operation, but to " coming events," 

 which thus " cast their shadows before," and of 

 which these actions are the certain forerunners. Yet 

 the notion, although prevalent, is altogether un- 

 founded, and is opposed to every thing which either 

 reason or observation teaches us concerning their 

 habits. When swallows fly low, skimming along the 

 ground or water, they are said to foretell a change 



* Translated from Vincent Browne. 



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