The Life of the Grasshopper 



with that remarkably quick metamorphosis 

 a culinary question arises. According to 

 Aristotle, Cicadae were a highly-appreciated 

 dish among the Greeks. I am not acquainted 

 with the great naturalist's text: humble vil- 

 lager that I am, my library possesses no such 

 treasure. I happen, however, to have before 

 me a venerable tome which can tell me just 

 what I want to know. I refer to Matthiolus' 

 Commentaries on Dioscorides. 1 As an emi- 

 nent scholar, who must have known his 

 Aristotle very well, Matthiolus inspires me 

 with complete confidence. Now he says : 



" Mirum non est quod dixerit Aristoteles, 

 cicadas esse gustu suavissimas antequam 

 tettigometra rumpatur cortex." 



Knowing that tettigometra, or mother of 

 the Cicada, is the expression used by the 

 ancients to denote the larva, we see that, 

 according to Aristotle, the Cicadae possess a 

 flavour most delicious to the taste before the 

 bark or outer covering of the matrix bursts. 



1 Pietro Andrea Mattioli (1500-1577), known as 

 Matthiolus, a physician and naturalist who practised at 

 Siena and Rome. His Commentaries on Dioscorides 

 were published in Italian, at Venice, in 1544 and in Latin 

 in 1554. Translator's Note. 

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