The Life of the Grasshopper 



taking care which this sort of digging de- 

 mands, show me at the bottom, encrusted in 

 the wall of the terminal chamber, a live root, 

 sometimes as big as a lead-pencil, sometimes 

 no thicker than a straw. The visible part of 

 this root is quite small, barely a fraction of 

 an inch. The rest is contained in the sur- 

 rounding earth. Is the discovery of this sort 

 of sap fortuitous? Or is it the result of a 

 special search on the larva's part? The 

 presence of a rootlet is so frequent, at least 

 when my digging is skilfully conducted, that 

 I rather favour the latter alternative. 



Yes, the Cicada-grub, when hollowing out 

 its cell, the starting-point of the future 

 chimney, seeks the immediate neighbourhood 

 of a small live root; it lays bare a certain 

 portion, which continues the side wall with- 

 out projecting. This live spot in the wall is, 

 I think, the fount from which the contents 

 of the urinary bladder are renewed as 

 the need arises. When its reserves are ex- 

 hausted by the conversion of dry dust into 

 mud, the miner goes down to his chamber, 

 drives in his sucker and takes a deep draught 

 from the cask built into the wall. With his 

 jug well filled, he goes up again. He re- 

 sumes his work, wetting the hard earth the 



