224 ANIMAL LIFE 



leaps, executed by the six legs or spring-joint of the 

 tail (fig. 46, c, a), for flight is not yet known, and 

 their shoulders arc destitute of wings. Such creatures 

 are everywhere abundant, but, like all old families, 

 their influence is less seen than felt. They live in 

 retirement — every stone and log conceals them ; leaf- 

 strewn hollows, banks of moss, kitchen hearths, and 

 gardens are equally their resort. From Europe to 

 Tasmania, on lowlands and highlands, on snow slopes 

 and in glacier water, there is hardly a station where 

 they may not be found. Their colours are for the 

 most part sombre ; dark blue and brown chief!}' prevail. 

 The silver-fish of our hearth-stones is of exceptional 

 brilliance, and contrasts with its dun-coloured relative 

 of the coast and uplands. Their eggs are laid in the 

 earth, and out of them issue miniatures of the parent, 

 which grow to greater likeness by insensible grada- 

 tions and increments of strength. 



The straight-winged insects are of immense an- 

 tiquity. They have retained their dominant position 

 by their hold on the earth and grasp of the air. In 

 every respect the tribe of grasshoppers, locusts, and 

 cockroaches shows an immense advance on their 

 predecessors in their two pairs of wings and powers 

 of flight, in the strength of their legs and jaws. They 

 have come out into the air and sunshine, and scrape 

 their fiddles and leap and fly in the exuberance of their 

 energy. Nor is their colour unsuited to the mood. 

 Grasshoppers catch from the grass something of its 

 green ; from the leaves some touch of their red ; 



