The Life of the Grasshopper 



At the aperture of the egg-chamber, 

 among the torn fibres, a tiny cone-shaped 

 body appears, with two large black eye-spots. 

 To look at, it is absolutely the fore-part of 

 the egg, which, as I have said, resembles the 

 front of a very minute fish. One would think 

 that the egg had changed its position, climb- 

 ing from the bottom of the basin to the 

 orifice of the little passage. But an egg to 

 move! A germ to start walking! Such a 

 thing was impossible, had never been. known; 

 I must be suffering from an illusion. I split 

 open the stalk; and the mystery is revealed. 

 The real eggs, though a little disarranged, 

 have not changed their position. They 

 are empty, reduced to transparent bags, 

 torn considerably at their fore-ends. From 

 them has issued the very singular organ- 

 ism whose salient characteristics I will now 

 set forth. 



In its general shape, the configuration of 

 the head and the large black eyes, the crea- 

 ture, even more than the egg, presents the 

 appearance of an extremely small fish. A 

 mock ventral fin accentuates the likeness. 

 This sort of oar comes from the fore-legs, 

 which, cased in a special sheath, lie back- 

 wards, stretched against each other in a 

 98 



