116 THE UNIVERSE. 



which means that it disphxys a strength 375 times exceed- 

 ing its own weight ! 



Notwithstanding their minnteness and the deKcacy of 

 their anatomy, otlier insects also exhibit a comparative 



\, 



Ijl. Blole-cricket, natural size— Gri/lIotaljM ridf/aris. 



strength which astonishes ns. Although it is almost 

 puerile to speak of the flea, still we may take it for an 

 instance, as it is unfortunately known everywhere. M. de 

 Fonvielle, in his interesting work on the Invisible World, 

 maintains that it can raise itself from the ground to a 

 height equal to two hundred times its stature. At this 

 rate, he says, a man Avould only make a joke of jumping 

 over the towers of Notre-Dame and the heights of Mont- 

 martre; and a prison would be an impossibility unless 

 the walls were built more than a quarter of a mile in 

 height. 



If we can scarcely believe in the prodigious movements 

 of the Aving, and its mosaic of jewelry, the feet, though 

 less agile and less adorned, are yet equally worthy of our 

 attention. Those of the working bee are perfect master- 



