The Cicada: the Transformation 



Apart from the trials to which my curi- 

 osity subjects it, I do not see that the Cicada- 

 larva is exposed to any danger of perishing 

 in this way. There is always a bit of brush- 

 wood of some kind near the exit-hole. The 

 newly-exhumed insect climbs on it; and a 

 few minutes are enough for the animal pod 

 to split down the back. This swift hatching 

 has often been a source of trouble to me in 

 my studies. A larva appears on the hills 

 not far from my house. I catch sight of it 

 just as it is fastening on the twig. It would 

 form an interesting subject of observation 

 indoors. I place it in a paper bag, together 

 with the stick that carries it, and hurry home. 

 This takes me a quarter of an hour, but it is 

 labour lost: by the time that I arrive, the 

 green Cicada is almost free. I shall not see 

 what I was bent on seeing. I had to 

 abandon this method of obtaining informa- 

 tion and be content with an occasional lucky 

 find within a few yards of my door. 



" Everything is in everything," as Jacotot 

 the pedagogue 1 used to say. In connection 



1 Joseph Jacotot (1770-1840), a famous French edu- 

 cator, whose methods aroused a great deal of discuss- 

 ion. He propounded other more or less paradoxical 

 maxims, such as, "All men have an equal intelligence," 

 " A man can teach what he does not know," and so on. 

 Translator's Note. 



49 



