What can our Locusts do? Not much in the way of manufactures. Their business in the world is that of alchemists who in their gourdlike stomach elaborate and refine material destined for higher objects. As I sit by my fireside, in the evening hours of meditation, scribbling these notes upon the part which Locusts play in life, I am not prepared to say that they have not contributed from time to time to the awakening of thought, that magic mirror of things. They are on the earth to thrive as best they can and to multiply, the latter being the highest law of animals charged with the manufacture of foodstuffs. From the former point of view, if we except the all-devouring tribes which at times imperil the very existence of Africa, the Locusts hardly attract our attention. They are poor trenchermen; and I can surfeit a whole barrack-room in my cages with a leaf of lettuce. As for the way in which they multiply, that is another matter and one well worth a moment’s attention. At the same time we must not look for the nuptial eccentricities of the Grasshoppers. Despite close similarity of structure, we are here in a new world as regards habits and character. In the peaceful Locust clan, all that has to do with pairing is correct, free from impropriety and conducted in accordance with the customary rites of the entomological world. Any one keeping it under observation at the time of the procreative frenzy will realize that the Locust came later than the Grasshopper, after the primitive Orthopteron had sown his monstrous wild oats. There is nothing striking to be said therefore on this always delicate subject; and I am very glad of it. Let us pass on and come to the eggs. At the end of August, a little before noon-day, let us keep a close watch on the Italian Locust (Caloptenus italicus, Lin.), the boldest hopper of my neighbourhood. He is a sturdy fellow, very free with his kicks; and he is clad in short wing-cases that hardly reach the tip of his abdomen. His costume is usually russet, with brown patches. A few more elegant ones edge the corselet with a whitish hem which is prolonged over the head and wing-cases. The wings are colourless except at the base, where they are pink; the hinder shins are claret-coloured. The mother selects a suitable spot for her eggs on the side where the sun is hottest and always at the edge of the cage, whose wirework supplies her with a support in case of need. Slowly and laboriously she drives her clumsy drill perpendicularly into the sand, this drill being her abdomen, which disappears entirely. In the absence of proper boring-tools, the descent underground is painful and hesitating, but is at last accomplished thanks to perseverance, that powerful lever of the weak.