138 CLASS-BOOK OF ZOOLOGY. 



tirpate or drive them from dwellings. This may be dohe 

 by pouring boiling water into their places of retreat ; by 

 fumigating the apartment in which they are found with 

 the vapor of sulphur and assafcetida ; or by putting sticks, 

 besmeared with a viscous substance, into their holes. But 

 a sure way to prevent their entrance into a house, or to 

 effect their expulsion from one, is to have the boards of 

 the floor made tight, and every crack in the pantry and 

 kitchen corked. 



§ 569. The Crickets, (Acheta,) to which genus belong 

 the Field, House, and Mole crickets, are, when full-grown, 

 so quarrelsome, that each individual lives separately. 



§ 570. The Field-cricket (Acheta campestris) is a harm- 

 less animal, lives in holes, and sings during the summer, 

 day and night. In some countries the boys keep them in 

 small boxes as an amusement. 



§ 571. The House-cricket (Acheta domestica) lives in 

 the cracks of walls, principally in breweries, on account 

 of the wet grain found there, its favorite food. It may 

 easily be destroyed by putting some Field-crickets in the 

 house, which will devour it. 



\ bT2. The Mole-cricket (Acheta gryllotalpa) is so called 

 on account of its fore-feet, which are similar to those of a 

 Mole, and well adapted for digging. On that account it 

 is injurious to gardens, fields, and meadows, where they 

 excavate subterraneous holes, and feed on the roots of 

 plants. 



\ 573. The Grasshopper (Grillus) is found in all the 

 countries of the world. Different species of them, vary- 

 ing in size and color, are everywhere seen ; and wher- 

 ever found they are injurious to vegetation, which they 

 devour by means of their strong jaws, laying bare whole 

 countries. 



\ 574. One of the most destructive is the Wandering 

 Grasshopper, (Grillus migratorius :) the wings included, 

 it is two inches and a half long, and of a grayish-brown 

 color, with black spots. They are a common plague in 

 Africa and Asia. 



§ 575. The Wandering Grasshopper, mentioned in the 

 Bible as one of the plagues inflicted on the Egyptians, 



