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OF SPIDEKLINCJS OX THEIIl FIUST OUTING. 23 24 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. of a mind detecting itself in error doubt and keen in- quiry, as though the latent sophistry of my remarks were suspected but not seen. I followed up my advan- tage. " Cast your eye along this little stream as it skirts yonder hill-side and pursues its winding course across the meadow. Has it not taken upon itself the external and formal limitations of your ' ugly snake '? If a poet were to speak of it as 'crawling,' or of its ' serpentine way,' would he not be borrowing terms from the snake's natural action to express his idea of beautiful form and motion ? The progress of a serpent over the ground or through the water is the very ideal of free, graceful movement. Then, as to its anatomy but, come, I must not be too fierce an iconoclast, or I shall cause a reaction in your thoughts against my animal friends, and quite spoil any good effect that I may have wrought in their behalf. This is your Saturday holiday ; can you join me for one hour in a morning stroll along the run ? I promise you some new and I hope agreeable acquaintances." FIG. 5. SPIDERS AT CAPE MAT. CHAPTER III. THE TENANTS PREPARING FOR WINTER. " STOP I Look into this clump of grasses and tell me what you see." ' I see nothing of special interest," said the school- mistress. " The bearded heads of the grass have been twisted together by some passing animal, I suppose, but that is all. Ah, no ! I see now. Here is a beautiful little pear-shaped nest hung among the foliage. I have seen similar ones in New England, though I am sure I cannot guess what it is unless it be the cocoon of a cater- pillar." "No, it is the egg-sac, or, as it is technically called (although somewhat loosely), the ' cocoon ' of our Bank Argiope. It has evidently just been made ; we shall find the mother near by. Ah, here she is ! Alarmed by our approach she has hidden among these leaves. Ob- serve how the abdomen has shrunken as compared with the specimen we first saw, who was distended with eggs, which, by-and-by, she will dispose of in a like cocoon. Excuse me a moment ; I must capture this little mother before telling more of her story." Taking a paper box from my satchel I opened it, placed the two parts on opposite sides of the spider, gently approximated them until the body was inside. THE TENANTS PREPARING FOR WINTER. 27 lightly pressed the struggling legs until they too were pulled within, then closed the box and put it in my pocket (Fig. 6.) FIG. 6. "COLLECTING A SPECIMEN.' "Isn't that cruel?" abruptly asked my companion, who had watched the process of " collecting a speci- men " with curious eye. " Cruel ? No. I should be sorry to give needless pain to any creature ; nor do I feel entitled to use my lordship over the life of the humblest insect except for a sufficient and benevolent end. As a priest in the temple of Nature I may dedicate this victim to Science. I shall see that she has a painless death. Moreover, her days are already numbered by the irrevocable decree of Nature ; after the spinning of a cocoon the mother- spider hangs upon it or near it for a few days, and then dies." u I have noticed," remarked Abby, plainly not quite satisfied that I had made out a good case, but willing to THE TENANTS PREPARING FOR WINTER. 29 change the subject, " that spiders are nearly always found alone. Do they never go in pairs or groups ?" " In a few species the male and female dwell together ; you will sometimes see broods of younglings massed to- gether in little balls, or seated on their webs in little clusters (Fig. 4) ; you will even see large colonies of adults as on the boat-houses of Atlantic City and Cape May each on an independent web, however (Fig. 5). But as a rule Arachne, in her social habits, is the very opposite of the social ants, bees and wasps. She is a solitary body, and welcomes all visitors as the famous Buck- eye wagoner, Tom Corw T in, advised the Mexicans to welcome our invading army, ' with bloody hands to hos- pitable graves. ' Nevertheless the maternal instinct is quite as strong within her as in any other animal. "Here, now, is our Argiope's cocoon. See what a pretty shelter-tent has been made by lashing these plants together (Fig. 3). Guy ropes of silk are attached to the cocoon at various points over the surface, and at the opposite ends fastened to the foliage. Thus the tiny basket swings secure amidst the most rigorous winter storm. Our mother-spider, indeed, might sing over her cradle the famous nursery rhyme : " * Rock-a-by, baby, on the tree top, When the wind blows the cradle will rock.' : ' However, there would be little likelihood in her case of such a melancholy conclusion as the lullaby has : " ' When the bough bends the cradle will fall, And down comes cradle, baby and all 1' " You have doubtless heard of Indian wicker-work 30 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. water-vessels. I have seen a large woven bowl in which meats were boiled, the water having been heated by hot stones. They were perfectly water-tight. That is an admirable example of ingenuity in weaving ; but Bank Argiope has approached it. The outside of her cocoon is usually tough and glazed, and effectually repels moist- ure. I have opened many and never found the slightest evidence that rain or snow or sleet had made an entrance. It is a strong case of forecast, certainly, although I am not prepared to say that the forecast abides in the brain- cells of the mother aranead. At all events, mother-love has met the difficulties as if they had been antici- pated." " Perhaps, " suggested Abby reverently, "we are here on the track of an infinite forecast ? How is the in- terior of the egg-sac furnished ?" " Suppose we look. We may devote this example to science and dissect it. As I open it with my knife, thus, you observe that the glaze lies upon the surface of a soft, yellow, silken plush, the whole forming the outer wall. Within that there is a mass of purple silk floss raw silk, you might say which evidently acts as a blanket- ing to the egg mass within. The eggs are yellow globules, sometimes several hundred in number, deposited under- neath a plate-like cushion, and swathed with a white silken sheet. Thus the young spiderlings are snugly blanketed and tucked away awaiting their deliverance from the nursery at the coming of spring." "But does the mother leave the little fellows there without any provison for them ?" THE TENANTS PREPARING FOR WINTER. 31 " "Well, a spider, unlike true insects, does not undergo transformation from a worm, through the chrysalid to the imago. It hatches out like a bird, and has no need to have stored within its cell a supply of nutrition as with voracious grubs. It can wait until its exode, when it is able to spin its own web and provide for its own larder. Therefore, the mother shows a true forecast of the situation and wants of her offspring when she fails to store food within the cocoon. Besides, there is a suspicion though I am not prepared to affirm it that the little ogres eat each other up, as necessity requires, an exigency of spider infancy which is provided for or against in the great number of eggs laid and young hatched out." " Dear me, what a situation that for the baby spider- lings ! To be shut within those inexorable walls and wait until one's turn comes to be served for dinner to one's sister or brother 1 It is to be hoped that Nature has kindly made the little fellows unconscious of their destiny. However, if one half is true that I hear of this human brotherhood of ours, it is not so very unlike the spider's baby-house. The big brothers eat the little ones, and the monopolies swallow all I" "What! so young and already a cynic? But you mustn't let your moralizing blind your eyes to the facts of life all around you. Look into that bush that you are passing. I see there one of my special friends whom I want you to know. Do you find her ?" "You mean this pretty little cobweb? But it is small and delicately wrought, and half hidden among TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. FIG. 8. SNAEE AND EGG-SACS OF CAUDATA. the leaves. How could you see it from where you stand, eight or ten feet distant ?" (Fig. 8.) "Nothing marvelous in that. I caught the sheen ol the white web in the sunlight which fell upon it just at the right angle, and a glance was enough for recogni- tion. There is a multitude of spider webs that are re- vealed only thus, or on a dewy morning by the drops of moisture entangled in them. Let me show you how I FIG. 9. CAUDATA'S cucouiss, WITH SCALPAGE. 34 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. recognized the species. Observe that a segment of the web is quite cut out at the top, through the centre of which a thick line is stretched. This peculiarity is caused by the little mother (Cyrtophora caudata) when she begins making her cocoons. She cuts out the spirals, as you see, and in the clear space hangs a straw-colored, pear-shaped cocoon, no larger than a pea. At first it is a clean silken sac, but as the mother preys upon the small insects that fall into her snare, instead of casting out the dry shells, as is common, she hangs them upon her cocoon, which is soon decorated with gauze wings, shining black heads and bodies (Fig. 9) until the origi- nal color quite disappears. By-and-by a second cocoon is added ; a third and a fourth follow, and I once found a string of eight. Each cocoon is treated in the same manner, until, like a genuine savage of the genus Jwmo, the tiny Amazon has decorated her home and her babies' homes with the scalps of her victims. Here she hangs on the hub of her snare, holding on to the lower part of her precious string of beads with a little white ribbon woven into the net beneath her. It was this ' scalpage' that enabled me to know my small acquaintance so readily." Leaving our aboriginal Caudata undisturbed in her wigwam to the full enjoyment of her cradles and scalps, we resumed our walk. Finding myself presently alone I turned and saw Abby intently peering into a pyramid of grasses which I had almost trodden under foot. " Here is surely something of value, " she cried. "At first I thought it was an egg-nest of Bank Argiope, but FIG. 10. EGG-SAC OF TUB BANDEO ARGIOPE. 36 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. it is quite different when I look closely. Maybe it is the work of a young mother ? Ah I I see by your smile that I have blundered." "I was thinking of your last remark ; and, after all, when I reflect, it is not so unnatural a conclusion. There is Caudata, who, after having made half a dozen cocoons, might be considered an 'experienced' mother. But Argiope never makes but one. Her maternal love and energy center upon that single work, and then she dies. But upon the discovery itself I must congratu- late you ; it is a noble find the cocoon of the Banded Argiope (Argiope fasciata) which I have never met but once. And now, with a boast of clear-sightedness fresh upon my tongue, I have fairly run over this rare speci- men ! Well, it- is not the first time that I have had illustration of the old adage : " * A raw recruit, Perchance, may shoot Great BONAPARTE !' You have proved yourself an apt recruit in the entomo- logical field, and have done good service. You have shown a true eye also, for this is not the egg-nest of Eiparia, but of one of her congeners, the Banded Ar- giope (Fig. 10). Here she lies, or hangs rather, holding even in death, to the frail hammock of a few lines spun against the dry grasses. She is a beautiful creature, covered with a glossy silver-white fur coat, with bands of black and yellow across the abdomen, from which she gets her name. How fortunate ! here is another snare, spun in the weeds at the edge of the run !" THE TENANTS PREPARING FOR WINTER. 37 FIG. 11. SNARE OF ARGIOPE FASCIATA. "And here is a third," echoed Abby, "with the spider hanging at the centre." "Good! Now we can study the web, which is a very pretty object." (Fig. 11.) " It is quite like the snare of Bank Argiope, I think mine is at least ; but yours, how daintily the central part has been decorated ! Why is that ?" 38 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. FIG. 12. DECORATION OF FASCIATA. u I cannot speak with certainty. This snare, as you remarked, resembles that of Riparia, although the cen- tral shield is rarely so prominent, and the 'winding stair ' is less frequent. The decorations of which you speak are more generally found on Fasciata's nest. They are semi-circular, zigzag ribbons and cords of silk spun in pairs or triplets on either side of the hub. Some- times they go quite around it (Fig. 12). They certainly give the snare a dainty appearance, but I imagine they are not for decoration as the scalpage of Caudata really seems to be but to strengthen the snare, and per- haps to form a sort of barricade to protect the owner from assault of enemies. I must collect this cocoon before we go further; it may be long before I meet another specimen. There, dead mother and her future progeny are safely boxed, and we may walk on. CHAPTER IY. WINTER TENANTS OF OUR TREES. THE stream at this point entered the edge of the wood, cutting its way through by a glen or ravine, on one side of which the land rose gradually, on the other rather abruptly. Both sides were covered with bushes and a young growth of trees, whose branches spread above the run, forming in summer time a dense shade, within which and the shadow of the rocks that jutted into the stream grew numbers of tall ferns. " On the skirts of this wood," I said, " we should find cocoons and crysalids of the Lepidoptera moths and butterflies in abundance. Let us search these young oak trees. I dare say we shall see something interest- ing." I had already caught a view of several of the objects for which we were now looking the winter tenants of our trees but waited for my companion to observe for herself. There is a special pleasure in the consciousness of original discovery, and a sense of per- sonal proprietorship which adds much to the interest with which the mind regards things. One's own find- ings are, therefore, the most fruitful in thought, and the best texts for instruction. I had not long to wait ; Abby's mind was quite intent upon the search, and soon 39 WINTER TENANTS OF OUR TREES. 41 FIG. 13 &. LARVA OF POLYPHEMUS MOTH. her keen eyes discerned the forms of several cocoons pendant among the branches of an oak. "I have them !" she cried. "Curious things they are, to be sure, and a curious story, no doubt, you have to tell about them." "Curious, certainly, to those who have thought little of such things ; and yet it is only a small chap- ter of a great book that lies open everywhere open, but unread. Such things as I hfavc to tell are curious only because people have not looked into the commonest facts around them. This is the cocoon of the Polyphe- mus moth (Fig. 13c). You observe how snugly the leaves have been tucked around it. Tear them away and there appears a yellowish, oval, silken case, inside of which the pupa is stowed. The thread of which this TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. cocoon is spun is continu- ous, and easily unwound like that of the ordinary silk moth, Bombyx mari. It has a rich gloss, and high hopes have been entertained that it could find extensive use in commerce. A New England gentleman suc- ceeded in rearing the in- sects in large numbers, so as to obtain wagon loads of cocoons. His 'plant' pre- sented a truly animated ap- pearance, with not less than a million worms feeding in the open air on bushes cov- ered with a net."' " A sight more attractive to the entomologist, or silk-grower, I should think, than to the general public," remarked Abby. " Very likely, but I have observed that a dollar dis- cerned in the distance has a wonderful effect in bright- ening even a vista of caterpillars. Prospect of cash converts unreasonable sensibilities quite as quickly as a naturalist's enthusiasm. However, the general public has a deep interest in everything relating to silk culture, for although it may be a 'disgusting' fact to some minds, yet it is a fact that we owe our most beautiful habiliments to the labor, pains, and eventually "the FIG 13 C. COCOON OF POLY- PHEMUS MOTH. WINTER TENANTS OF OUR TREES. 43 sacrificed life of the despised silk-worm. The larva of our Polyphemus moth is thick, fleshy, striped obliquely with white on the sides, with angulated segments or 'joints,' on which are tubercles surmounted by a few soft hairs. They are hatched about the close of June from eggs laid singly by the mother moth on the under sides of leaves. Ten or twelve days intervene between the deposit of the eggs and the hatching of the larva. " Then begins the feeding, which is not a simple eat- ing, but a storing of food that must sustain nature during the long winter sleep, and in some cases, as with Cecropia, for example, during the life of the perfect in- sect when it has transformed. Not only that, but it must take in enough to supply the curious natural workshop within it with the crude material from which comes the silken fibre that lurnishes its winter home. Those are busy days, therefore, for the young worm during the long summer. " But it has periods of rest from its voracious eating. Late in the afternoon of a summer day, if you would peep among the leafy barricades of these oak-boughs, you might see our worm undergoing the tedious process of shedding its own clothes, or moulting. As the grub grows, the outer skin tightens and hardens; since it cannot yield, and as the creature must grow while it eats, the only thing to be done is to get rid of the im- pediment. Therefore Dame Nature, like a careful nurse, strips the young Polyphemus and puts it aside to rest awhile. "Something analogous occurs to the human intellect 44 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. from time to time, although ' Bourbons ' and ' old fogies' are said to be exempt from the process of moulting. On the other hand, there are some men who have such marvelous facility at making an intellectual moult, that one hardly knows where to find them on great questions. "Our Polyphemus grub is content with five moults, ten days intervening between the first four, and twenty between the last two. During the intervals it resumes the serious duty of life eating." " How many leaves can one larva eat ? " asked Abby. "It seems to me you must exaggerate its voracity, or its ravages would be more noticeable. Surely, the little creature within this case couldn't have been very for- midable as a gourmand." " Have you ever observed one at its meals ? No ? Well, then, you have something yet to learn as to the proportions of a healthy appetite. The hungry ' small boy ' is hardly to be named for gastronomic practice beside our Polyphemus. Mr. Trouvelot, a Massachu- setts observer, has determined that a grub fifty-six days old has attained 4140 times its original weight, a progress in avoirdupois which implies a corresponding vigor in table-fare. Or. to put it in another way, a full-grown larva has consumed not less than one hun- dred and twenty oak-leaves, weighing three-fourths of a pound, besides the water which it has drunk. Thus the food which it has taken in fifty-six days equals in weight eiyhty-six thousand times the primitive weight of the worm ! You may imagine the destruction of leaves WINTER TENANTS OP OUtt TREES. 45 PIG. 14. DAME NATURE STRIPS YOUNG POLYPHEMUS FOR REST. which this single species of insect could make if only a hundredth part of the eggs came to maturity. A few years would suffice for the propagation of a number large enough to devour all the leaves of our forests." "But you have not told me yet how the caterpillar eats itself within this cocoon. I feel very much as the somewhat under-wise and stuttering King of England, George II., is said to have felt when he first saw an apple-dumpling. ' P-p-pray, wh-wh-where, where got the apple in ?' How got the pupa inside this case ?" 46 TEX ANTS OF AN OLD FARM. "You understand, of course," I replied, "that this hard and apparently lifeless object (Fig. 15) which we call a pupa did nothing to inclose itself. The larva 'got' itself 'in,' and then be- came a pupa. A few days be- fore it had been seized by a strange restlessness ; it wandered about uneasily ; it refused to eat. What vision of its coming change had Nature given the worm ? I believe human beings also are sometimes impressed in some such way before great crises. I have myself experienced, on the approach of such occasions, those indefinable, restless sensations which the moth larva seems to exhibit. Its first step toward forming a cocoon, after a site had been chosen, was to wrap the stem, as you see here, and lash it to the twig above. Then, sinking to this point, it gradually drew around it the adjacent leaves, making a tiny arbor or cell, which you observe is the framework of the cocoon. Within this it began to spin, drawing its silken threads from point to point as it moved around the cell. Layer succeeded layer, each overlapping its predecessor, until the grub was quite shut in, and. finall}*, this silken case was completed. It then ceased work, and, yielding to the strange drowsy spell which Nature casts upon its kind, it fell into this FIG. 15. PUPA OF POLYPHEMUS. WINTER TENANTS OF OUR TREES. 47 pupal state, wherein it will remain until late in May or early June next, when it will emerge as a perfect insect." " Well, well," exclaimed Abby ; " it is an 'oft told tale,' but it seems more wonderful to me to-day than ever before. Of course it is a ridiculous fancy ; but do you know I can't help wondering if the moth knows itself when it emerges ! I mean, does it have any recollection of its larval and pupal estate ? What do you think ? It's a foolish notion, I daresay !" " Not at all; others have had the same thought. But who can say ? Perhaps when we have passed through some such transformation, we may have more light on this and other of Nature's mysteries ; but until then we must be content to guess at the possible expe- rience of a moth. All we can say is that the mother insect always comes to the tree, whether oak or maple, on which it was reared as a larva to deposit her eggs. Possibly the ghost of a faint impression of the acrid flavor of oak-leaf may haunt the pairs of nervous ganglia that serve for brains in a Polyphemus, and so may urge the creature to haunt its larval resorts. One would think, however, that all sense of its old person- ality had been buried and left in this pupal sarcopha- gus. But then, again, who knows ? We might as well call the mental processes of both grub and imago instinct^ and pass on." "I have another question," said the schoolma'am. " You see I am moved by my ancestral traditions, if the moth is not, and ask questions like a genuine WINTER TENANTS OF OUR TREES. 49 Yankee. Where are the spinning organs of the larva ? The spider has hers, I know, at the apex of the abdomen, in several little mammals or spinnerets. How is it with the caterpillar?" "The position of the spinning organs is precisely reversed in the silk-worm. The silk glands consist of two long, flexuous, thick-walled sacs situated on the sides of the body, and opening by a common orifice on the under-lip, or labium, usually at the end of a short tubular protuberance. They are most developed just when they are most needed when the larva approaches the pupa state. And now, suppose we dismiss our Polyphemus and turn to others quite as " There, excuse me ; you have reminded me of some- thing I wanted to ask. Why is this moth called ' Poly- phemus ?' Is it such a horrible one-eyed ogre as the giant who handled so roughly the great Ulysses and his companions ?" "I am afraid that I cannot fully satisfy you until we return to the house and show you a figure of the insect possibly not then, for scientific names are not always readily accounted for. But we shall have better oppor- tunity by-and-by, as we walk homeward, to talk over this matter of scientific names. Meanwhile, let us ex- amine these elder-bushes along the fence-side. I hope to find an old friend ah, there you have it, I see. It is the Cecropia moth Platysamia cecropia. It has nearly the same habits as the Polyphemus ; indeed, the story of that insect's life will stand, with a few varia- tions, for all. Elder, willow and maple are the favorite 50 TENANTS Off AN OLD FARM. food-trees of Cecropia in our neighborhood, at least. There is a clump of young spicewood trees, and yonder are some sassafras saplings. Let us examine them, What have you found ?" " Here is a cluster of seven or eight hanging neai together ! They are long, tapering cocoons, prettily rolled in leaves and bound to the twigs by beautifully wrapped silk. See, in this one the coil extends several inches up the stem and around the twig. What is the use of all this precaution ? Wouldn't the insects come out on the ground quite as well ? Indeed, I should think that it would be colder up there exposed to wind, rain, hail, snow, and frost, than clown among the dry grass and leaves." " The question of temperature hasn't so much to do with the matter, I imagine ; the pupae stand an intense degree of cold, even those of the butterflies (Fig. 17) which are usually naked. These have been kept in an ice-house for two years, and when removed to a warm place came out all right. Cold and damp weather retards the process of transformation ; but the cocoons do well enough on the ground where they fall, as many do ; although, on the whole, I think they are better on the FIG i7._ PUPA O p branches, certainly they are safe there BUTTERFLY VA- NESSA* from the trampling feet of cattle." However, there are, no doubt, wise reasons for what you have aptly styled all this precaution, some of which WINTER TENANTS Of 1 OUR TREES. 51 I can suggest. For one thing, cocoons temper the rapid changes in the atmospheric temperature. A long, steadily cold winter seems to be less destructive to the enclosed pupae than a very changeable one of a lower average temperature. Hence the value, in a changeable climate, of such enswathments as help to graduate the weather variations. Then, again, cocoons are of use in preventing the loss of moisture by pupse. For example, the pupa of a Ce- cropia or Polyphemus moth exposed to the atmosphere without its natural covering will, as a rule, dry up or produce an imago which will not have moisture enough in its tissues to properly expand its wings. Once more, cocoons conceal the inmates from their natural enemies. If they be noticed they are seen not to be edible, and the tough parchment enswathment protects from any but a deliberate and vigorous siege. Moreover, the odor of the pupa, by which many enemies would be attracted to it, is probably largely confined within the cocoon by their structure. You must take my suggestions with some allowance, how- ever. I confess that I am not in a position to be very positive upon this interesting query, which involves some puzzling and seemingly inconsistent facts. But to return to our Cynthia cocoons, let me call your atten- tion again to the manner in which the larva has wrapped the leaf-stalks entirely around and carried the windings clear up to the twig on which the leaves hang. One is almost led to think that the worm wrought with some knowledge that leaves have the habit of dropping 52 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. from the trees, and secured itself against any such acci- dent by lashing the petiole tightly to the limb." Well but surely, you don't thing that the worm really did know that ? " exclaimed Abby. As I did not venture upon an answer, somewhat fear- ing the questions that the quick-witted maiden might shower upon me, the schoolma'am dropped the matter and started another query. "Why should these cocoons be swung aloft in this fashion, instead of being tied directly to the limbs ? Does the pensile condition give them any special pro- tection ?" "That is partly, perhaps mainly, due to the peculiar character of an ailanthus leaf-stalk, which you can readily observe. Yet I can suggest one probable advantage. There is a cousin-german of these speci- mens Samia cynthia who usually builds upon the ailanthus tree. I have gathered a brood of twenty- three cocoons hanging upon a small branch. The ailanthus leaf, you know, falls early, and you may observe the cocoons (Fig. 18) pendant in clusters from the bare boughs of the trees along our city streets. I have seen the sparrows pecking at them, and was reminded of the days when I tried to gain health and muscle by a daily boxing-match with a sand-bag hung in the back yard. Of course the bag swung away at every blow, only to come back again. I never had any damage from the sand-bag, which, I suppose, was the main point ; but, on the other hand, the sand-bag never got any damage from me, simply because it FIG. 18. CLUSTER OF CYNTHIA COCOONS. 54 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. wouldn't stay to get it. That was precisely the case with the ailanthus cocoons ; they gave way before the bills of the mischievous, chattering sparrows, who could, therefore, make no impression on them. Those cocoons were even more carefully attached than these of the Prometheus, the twigs on which they hung being wrapped for ten and twelve inches from the stem, which was also carefully bound about with a quite decided ribbon of fine yellowish white silk. The leaves and leaf-stalk were tightly wrapped to the twig, and thus all were carefully suspended aloft, where they hung through the entire winter. Now, I do not know from actual observation that the spar- rows wished to tear open the cocoon for the sake of the contents, but I have thought that, in early spring, at least, their motive may have been to get material for their nests." " Why should the sparrows wish to obtain the con- tents of a cocoon ?" asked Abby. " Could they eat the pupa ?" " That they could, for the pupa is little more than a mass of vital juices, contained within a not very tough crust. I have said that I have no positive evidence to convict our English sparrows of preying upon the Cecropia pupae, but I cannot say as much for some other birds. There is at least one bird, the hairy woodpecker (Picus villosus Linn.), from whose beak the staunch cocoon of the Cecropia oifers no protection whatever. u I have noticed one of these birds, during the early WINTER TENANTS OF OUR TREES. 55 FIG. 19. THE SPARROW'S SPARRING MATCH. p 52. months of winter, clinging to a twig, pecking away at the parchment-like covering of a cocoon attached thereto in a manner that amused me very much, and I was hugely enjoying its (as I supposed) vain attempts to penetrate it. But when it hopped to an adjoining limb, shook itself and exhibited the well-known natural 56 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. behavior of a bird that has just banqueted, I began to think its powers had been vastly underestimated. By the aid of a ladder the cocoon was obtained and found not only to have been punctured, but all the soft and liquid parts extracted. As there were other cocoons attached to the same tree which, upon examination, proved to be uninjured, I was led to believe the bird had found a weak part in the one which it had pene- trated. "After a few days another cocoon was found to be punctured, this time fairly upon the crown and appar- ently in the strongest part. I now saw what had before escaped my notice, viz. : that by the situation of the first cocoon it was accessible to the bird only from below, which accounted for the puncture being near its base, close to the twig. A short time afterward, on passing another tree, out from among the branches flew the little murderer, and, as usual, a pierced cocoon was found, the puncture yet wet with the juices of the pupa, showing that I had surprised the bird while at breakfast. "In the month of January in the succeeding year, I again found the winged destroyers at work, and could easily distinguish the dry, rattling sound, the death knell of the beautiful moth, the larva of which seems to be as destructive to vegetation as the imago is innocent. So far as I have been able to observe, the birds do not attack these cocoons until winter, when other insect food is not so easily obtainable. In fact, this seems to be a source of subsistence stored up for this WINTER TENANTS OF OUR TREES. 57 season of the year, always fresh, and, to all appear- ances, at all times available."* "But, even if we should acquit the sparrows of mur- derous intent in their assaults upon cocoons, we may fairly conjecture that they are influenced by desire to gather material for nest-building. "I have specimens of the nests of a Vireo taken in Fail-mount Park, which are largely constructed of silk stolen from cocoons and webs of spiders. One may imagine the vigorous but unavailing protests of the despoiled spinster against the rape of her fair silken yarns, but what could she do against the thieving birds ? Her stationary domicile and cocoon were far more exposed to the winged robbers than the oscillating house of the moth, pendant from the trees. " But we have quite spent our hour afield. We will walk homeward through the ravine, and collect such specimens as we may on the way. I dare say we shall find enough material to supply a theme of conversation for a pleasant evening at home." " You promised to initiate me into the mysteries of scientific names when we started homeward," said Abby ; " cannot your fulfill your promise now ?" "There is not much mj^stery in the matter," I replied, " and I shall have little difficulty, I think, in [* Among the many letters called out by the original chapters of "The Tenants, " as published in THE CONTINENT, was one from Mr. F. M. Webster, Assistant Entomologist of the State of Illinois, who forwarded me the above facts concerning the hairy woodpecker, as observed by him, and printed in the American Naturalist. They are confirmatory of my allusion to the sparrows, and I here take the liberty of adding them to the Tenant's Experience. J 58 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. introducing so apt a candidate as yourself. The fact is, objects in natural history are named precisely on the same principle that prevails in the bestowment of in- dividual names among men. An animal or plant has a generic, name that corresponds with the gens, sir, or family cognomen of a man, and a specific name that corresponds with his baptismal, Christian, or individual name. There is this difference, that the order of the names is reversed, the gens name of an animal being placed first instead of last. However, there are some nations, as the Hungarians and, I believe, also the Chinese, who follow the very order that naturalists have established ; and in our directories, ledgers and other lists of names we Americans do the same. Thus you might see your own gens or family name, Bradford, preceding your individual name AWy, and so on through all your clan. If you were to write such a list and a list of insects in opposite columns you would at once see the analogy, thus : " BRADFORD, ABBY, Argiope riparia, BRADFORD, GEORGE, Argiope fasciata, BRADFORD, MARY, Bombyx mori, BRADFORD, JOHN, Telca polyphemus. " That is a simple enough arrangement, and natur- alists invariably adhere to the rule to give only the two necessary names to one animal. Certainly, some of their titles are sufficiently formidable (chiefly be- cause they are new to us), but you will now never see any multiplication of scientific names upon one poor little creature such as many human babies are com- FIG. 20. THE RAPE OF THE TARNS. p. 57. 60 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. pelled to receive : Angelina Seraphima Celestiana Jane- Eliza BROWN ! In sooth, scientific nomenclature is not the greatest offender in the matter of long and sound- ing titles." " Where do the naturalists get their names ?" asked Abby, after heartily enjoying my sally, which her ex- perience with the names of her school-children enabled her to fully appreciate. "The rule is to derive the generic name from the Greek, and the specific name from the Latin, or to con- vert the former into a Greek form and Latinize the latter. It is further the custom, which is not, how- ever, invariable, to construct the names from some marked characteristic of the animal. Take, for ex- ample, our spider friend Argiope riparia. The generic name is taken from mythology, after a fancy that long prevailed among naturalists, and which is especially marked in the science of astronomy, as you will see by recalling the names of the planets. Argiope (ApyioitT)) was a Greek nymph, and the fancy of the araneologist who created the genus led him to give her name to it. The specific name riparia was given by Hentz to our fine species, because he frequently found the creature along the banks of streams, and riparia is the Latin adjective that describes this fact. In the same way the other beautiful species was named Argiopc, of course, because she belongs to the same gens, and fasciata (Latin for handed) because of the black bands or stripes laid over her silvery abdomen. " Take the next example on our list ; the scientific WINTER TENANTS OF OUR TREES. 61 name of the silkworn is Bombyx mori. The generic title is simply the Greek name for that insect (fioufivZ, bombyx), which very properly is given to the gens of which it is the best known member. In other words, like distinguished sovereigns and citizens it es- tablished a ' house ' bearing its own name. The specific name mori is the genitive case of the Latin word morum, a mulberry, and those who have ever fed silkworms can see the reason for such a title for that individual member of the ' house ' of Bombyx. "Now as to polyphemus; its specific name was probably given, as you guessed at first, because, at the time of its discovery, it was supposed to be the giant among the moths ; or, perhaps, because of the large eye which marks each wing of the perfect insect. Specific names are often given in honor of naturalists or others whom the naturalist wishes to compliment. For instance, I might be pleased to name some spider or bug after my friend Bradford, in which case I should Latinize the termination, and call it Bradfordii, or if after Miss Abby herself, Bradfordice, perhaps, which is the female termination of the Latinized Bradfordius. Such are the general rules governing scientific nomencla- ture. There are exceptions and violations. But here we are at home 1" " Thanks !" said the schoolma'am. " I see now what I never knew before, that in science, at least, there is much in a name." CHAPTER V. MOTHS AT THE FIRESIDE. "THERE is a peculiar pleasure in the hearth when the first autumnal frosts call for fires. That is, if one has an open grate or an old-fashioned fireplace. Modern stoves and furnaces have lurned all the poetry out of the songs and traditions of the ' fireside. ' u It requires a more vivid imagination than ordinary mortals are blessed with to throw the charm of ' ingle- side,' and all that, around a hole in the wall covered by an iron filagree gate through whose perforations a hot air-blast is puffing. As to stoves, if we except the good old 'Franklin,' and all of that ilk, there is nothing to be said about or for them save that they do 'keep us warm.' " So the Mistress discoursed as Dan piled up the hick- ory-wood upon the great back-log already smoldering upon the sitting-room hearth. In the general repairs which the old farmhouse had undergone this room was preserved from the intrusion of a coal-grate, and its cav- ernous depth dedicated to the ancient Lar of the and- iron and crane. Behold us, then, the entire Highwood family, seated before the first fire of the season, rejoicing in its genial light and warmth. The specimens gathered 62 PICK 21. COCOON OF CECKOPIA MOTH. 64 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. in the morning walk are laid upon the table, together with divers books of reference. The Mistress, the schoolma'am and myself have seats at the table ; Hugh Bond, the farmer, sits at the chimney side ; at his feet sits his youngest boy, Harry, and opposite him are his son Joe, a stout lad of seventeen, and his daughter Jenny, a young woman of nineteen, who is established at High wood as one of our handmaids. Old Dan, some- what more modestly, sits on a cricket at the side of the door that opens into the kitchen. In the days of Farmer Townes the room in which we sit was the u living-room " of the family, the kitchen serving for the dining-room as well. We have made the best of the builder's plans, and converted it into a dining and sitting-room jointly and severally. A snug and comfortable place it is, too, with its great wood fire roaring in the chimney ! We are a democratic company, observe, and why not ? for we are gathered for the study of natural sci- ence, and science knows no caste ; besides it is the good wife's doing, and came about in this wise : The advent of the master and schoolma'am, as they entered the gate after their morning walk, with hands full of divers specimens and others fluttering from the master's hatband, had created quite a sensation at Highwood. It was midday, the dinner-hour on an American farm, a custom come of descent doubtless from the European "dejeuner," with which meal, at least, both in character and time, as now served upon the Continent, it precisely corresponds. The entire MOTHS AT THE FIRESIDE. 65 household was therefore on the premises, and were all on the alert to know what such strange procedure might portend. Dan shook his head significantly, and evidently considered it a natural outcropping of my malady. Sarah, the cook, thought that " yarbs " for medicine might be at the bottom of the business, until Hugh explained that something more than plants had been carried home. He had a faint glimmer of the facts, for some one had told him that his " boss used to be a great bug-hunter." Joe, Jenny and their little brother Harry, a bright twelve-year-old boy, with that strong sympathy with nature which marks young people, were full of curiosity which (with Harry espe- cially) overflowed in a very freshet of questions. The Mistress had noted all these things as she moved back and forth, and at her request an invitation was carried to the whole domestic company to join the evening con- versation. All accepted heartily except Sarah, a middle- aged white woman, childless and a "grass-widow," who declared that she "didn't see no use in any sich nonsense." Nevertheless, as she sat in the shadows beside the kitchen-stove she cast many surreptitious looks through the open door upon the group at the table, and kept a wide-open ear turned in the same direction. "Suppose you begin the conversation," said Abby, " by telling us the use of these cocoons. What ends do they serve in nature ? I was much interested in your statements this morning, and would like our circle to have the benefit of some of them at least." 66 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. " Very good. I. will answer by first asking Bond a question : What is the use of the straw coverings which you were wrapping around the rose-bushes this morning?" "Why, sir," replied Hugh, smiling at such an apparently simple question, " that's plain enough. It saves the bushes from the frost." "But surely the frost gets through the straw at last, and the bushes must be quite as cold during winter as the outside atmosphere V" "Y-a-a-s," Hugh returned; "but then the straw kind o' tempers it, too. You see, the cold works in gradual like, and allows the plant to git used to it. Besides that, I've been told that the bushes ' sweat ' jist like animals, and the heavy straw swathing keeps in that nateral warmth. Still, I don't know 'bout that. I reckon the rabbits has somethin' to do with the busi- ness, too ; leastways, I take pretty good care to wrap the lower parts a leetle closter. But, to tell the truth, sir, I never thought much about the why and wherefore. I puts a coat on the tender bushes pretty much as I puts one on myself." " Well, Hugh, you have given a good enough starting point for my answer. The cocoons, like the straw wraps, temper the rapid changes in the atmosphere. A long, steady winter seems to be less destructive to the inclosed pupa than a very changeable one of a lower average temperature. Hence the value, in a change- able climate, of such wraps as help to graduate the weather variations. Here now is this Cecropia cocoon. UTO. 22. CECROPIA COCOON PARTLY DISSECTED 67 68 TENANTS Of 1 AN OLD FARM. (Fig. 21). I strip aside the leafy covering, and expose a stiff, parchment-like case, as waterproof as a rubber- coat. Inside, you see an egg-shaped object, completely covered with a thick blanketing of flossy silk. (Fig. 22). The silk overlays a second parchment case, which I cut away, and come to the baby moth, tucked in its cradle, sound asleep. This is what we call the pupa. There it is I" The whole party had eagerly watched the progress of the scissors as I dissected the cocoon, and the young people had become so much interested that they left their seats at the fireside, and approached the table. " Dear me !" said the Mistress, laughing, " that quite equals the care which German mothers show their babies in winter. I have seen them lying upon a feather bed, and another bed of eider down or feathers laid upon them as a covering. Their rosy little fat faces peeped out of their knit woolen caps, and showed pink and chubby like a premium peach in a bunch of cotton. " "I wonder," said Abby, "if the Indian mothers didn't get their style of wrapping up their papooses from the Cecropia moth ?" " Who knows ? Dame Nature has given many a good hint to men, and the squaws might have gone further and fared worse. But to proceed with our lesson : here is one of Harry's contributions. He dug it out of the potato-field for me this afternoon. I didn't give him the name of the baby insect, or I fear that he would not have been so friendly toward the ' poor wee thing, ' for it is an old acquaintance i the potato- worm.' " MOTHS AT THE FIEESIDE. FIG. 23. THE POTATO-WORM LARVA OF S. QUINQUE-MACULATA. "Hi !" cried Dan, sitting bolt upright on his cricket, " doan' mean ter say, Mars Mayfiel', dat daVs de nas'y big green catumpill'r 't eats de tater wines? 'Taint nothin' like it, shore !" "Yes, Dan, this is the potato-worm, the tomato- worm, or the tobacco-worm, just as you choose to call it. You all know it a large green caterpillar, with a kind of thorn on the tail, and oblique, whitish stripes oil the side of the body. It grows to the thickness of the fore-finger, and the length of three inches or more (Fig. 23). It comes to its full size from the middle of August to the first of September, then crawls down the stem of the plant, and buries itself in the ground, 70 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. There, in a few days, it throws off its caterpillar skin, and becomes this bright brown crysalis." (Fig. 24). "If you please, Mars MayfieP," interrupted Dan, "whar's de 'coon? Dat's no 'coon at all; I 'speck FIG. 24. PUPA OF POTATO-MOTH. Harry's done shucked it, and I'd like powerful well to know all 'bout dat tater-worm. " "I didn't neither!" answered Harry, warmly. " That's all there was of it ; Mr. Mayfield stood by while I dug, and knows it's so." "Quite true, Harry; but, Dan, can you tell why Bond don't wrap up the roots of his bushes in straw, as well as the branches ?" " Why, Mars MayfieP, 'v course de ground keeps de roots warm widout de straw." "Precisely ; and so it is with the crysalis. As the larva goes into the ground, to 'transform,' as we say, instead of hanging on the tree like this Cecropia, it has less need of the protection of a cocoon. Although we shall see by-and-by, that crysalids can get on very well, even when hanging naked on the trees. "But look at this," said Abby, pointing to the long, stem-like appendage at one end of the crysalis. " Your crysalis must have been suspended to the trees at some MOTHS AT THE FIRESIDE. 71 time, for here is the very stem by which it hung, just like those of the Polyphemus and Cynthia moths." Thereupon she handed the object to the mistress, who examined it carefully. "Why, father," she remarked, "I fear that Abby has caught you napping this time." " That is right," I answered. " I am glad that your minds are alert and not disposed to take too much without question. Let the crysalis pass around the circle, and then I will show you the imago or perfect insect. Here is a figure of our potato-worm full fledged. A fine large moth it is, you see. It has dropped its humble name now and is known as Sphinx quinque-ma- culata, or, in plain English, the Five-spotted Sphinx." (Fig. 25.) "Well, well," said the Mistress, a little impatiently. " What has that to do with this ' stem ' that we were talking about ?" "Patience, my dear, I am coming to that; but I want you, first, to see the insect's tongue. Come, Abby, you have the first look ; do you see the tongue ?" " Not I ! and it's not to be seen, for the back of the moth is toward us." " Then let the others try." All studied the picture and came to the same conclu- sion no tongue was to be seen. " I must put spectacles on your eyes, I find. You see this long, delicate, curled organ rising out of the head and extended over the flower into which it is about to be thrust ? this is the insect's tongue," MOTHS AT THE FIRESIDE. 73 " TJiat the tongue?" "The tongue?" "The tongue !" Soothe query and exclamation ran from one to an- other, or, rather, rose from all in chorus. " Yes," I answered, " that is the tongue, and Madam Sphinx certainly can't complain of its brevity. Here, now, is where your 'stem' comes in. The long, slen- der object which you mistook for the cord by -which a cocoon hangs is a tongue-case. It is bent over, as you see, from the head so as to touch the breast only at the end, causing the crysalis somewhat to resemble a pitcher." My discourse was here interrupted by an unctuous roll of laughter proceeding from the kitchen door, " Ho, ho, ho!" All eyes were turned upon Dan, who was rocking back and forth upon his stool, in an ecstacy of merri- ment. Soon the entire group was laughing in pure sympathy, for no one had suspected the cause of Dan's mirth. u Beg pardon, Mars MayfieP," he said, at length. "I done forgot my manners, dat's a fac' ; but it come over me so sudden ! I'se jes' thinkin' dat ef all de long- tongued folkses could git dat kin' uv a spectakle-case to stow away dar tongues in, 't would be mighty handy round our kitchen o' nights ! Dar's Sarey Aim,, now, Another outbreak of hearty laughter interrupted Dan's remarks, the point of which every one appre- 74 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. elated ; for, with all her excellencies, our cook carried a sharp tongue, and was prone to use it freely, as Dan had more than once complained, upon "de kitchen folks." "Dan Davis," cried a wrathful voice from out the shadows of the kitchen, "you'd better curl up a rod or two of your own tongue, I reckon." Dan hitched his cricket around, half rose, and looked into the kitchen. " 'Fore goodness sake, Sarey Ann, I nebber s'posed you's a lestenin' to our nonsenses 'bout the bugs. Hi den ! You've been keepin' the lef year open all de time ?" "Sit down, Dan," I said. "I'll intercede for you with Sarah, although you certainly deserve a little tongue -lashing this time. Let us get back to our crysalis. It remains in the ground through the winter, below the reach of frost, and in the following spring the crysalis-skin bursts open, the large moth crawls out of it, comes to the surface of the ground, and, mounting upon some neighboring plant, waits until the approach of evening invites it to expand its untried wings and fly in search of food, which it sucks from the flowers by means of its tongue. The tongue can be unrolled to the length of five or six inches, but, when not in use, is coiled like a watch-spring, and is almost entirely con- cealed between two large and thick feelers, under the head. The moth measures across the wings about five inches ; is of a gray color, variegated with blackish lines and bands, and on each side of the body there are five round, or rectangular, orange-colored spots en- MOTHS AT THE FIRESIDE. 75 circled with black. These are the markings that have given it the name of the Five-spotted Sphinx." "Why should it be called a sphinx at all?" asked Abby. " The larva, when disturbed, has the habit of raising its head aloft and curving several of the first segments of the body (see Fig. 23). The fancied resemblance of this attitude to the Egyptian Sphinx has suggested its scientific name." " That is very good," said the Mistress, "very good, indeed, and I am sure that it will help me to remember what you have said. Is that what has been called a scientific use of the imagination ? If so, I suppose we might complete tlie fancy, and think of the famous 'Riddle of the Sphinx,' as the continually repeated question of the farmers, ' What be them worms made for, anyhow ?' r " Are not these large moths very rare insects ?" asked Abby. " I don't remember ever to have seen one." " On the contrary, they are quite common," I replied. " You will find them even within the city limits, where they feed on the Jimson (Jamestown) weed, which grows abundantly on vacant lots. But they are night- feeders, keeping close under the cover of the leaves and branches during the day, and only flying abroad after nightfall. For this reason we rarely see them. You have seen the small species of moths fluttering around the lights on a summer evening, but the large species do not often venture through the windows. The fact is, there is a night-world of all sorts of creatures living MOTHS AT THE FIRE8IDK. 77 close around us, little known by most men, and, indeed, their presence little suspected." "It's a mighty good thing," remarked Dan, " dat dem mo'hvs doan fly inter de winders often." He placed his elbows on his knees, leaned forward, rested his chin upon his fists, shook his head oracularly, and assumed a very solemn air. " No, it ain't bes', noways, to have too much to do wid dem critters. Dar was my brudder Wash, 'fore I cum up from ole Marylan' ; de berry week 'fore he died one ob dese big mo'hvs flew inter de winder, flickered aroun' de candle, and 'fore we know'd brushed it right out. Dar we wur, all in the dark ; an' I tell you, a fearder set there never was. I .'member dat night to dis day ! We knowed we was warned, an' dat some 'v us mus' go. But which ? Good Lor', dat was de question ! Shore 'nough, a week arter dat, Wash was taken sick an' died. He knowed he had to go w'en he was tuk, an' jis lay down and kin' o' faded out. No ! It doan do to have too much to do wid dem mo'hvs. " An' dat ain't all," continued the venerable servant, perceiving that we were all encouraging him to continue his discourse. " Dat ain't all, needer. Dar's one ob dem mo'hvs dat goes fly in' roun' wid a reg'lar raw- hcad-and-bloody-bones on it, like de pirate flag ob Cap- tain Kidd. Dey calls it de ' Death's-Head Mohf,' or somethin' like that " " Did you ever see one, Dan ?" I asked, interrupting him. The old man started, spread his open palms upward, *78 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. rolled his eyes, shook his head, and, with a voice that almost trembled with fear, replied : u See one, did you say ? Doan nebber ask dat ques- tion, Mars Mayfiel'. Ob course, I nebber did ! De good Lor' 'n mercy forbid dat ! Amen. Why, it's all a man's life's worth to see a .Death's-Head Mohf. Mor' 'n dat " here he lowered his voice to a deep whisper " dey do say dat the good Lor' He nebber made dat critter at all ! De ebil sperrits de berry ole debbil heself 'ceived de idee, an' fabricated dat ting in de darkest night ob de year. Doan tell me ! I doan want to see no sech doin's. Doan you show me dem picters, needer. No good luck '11 ebber come from paintin' dem tings. How d'ye suppose de man dat drawed 'em ebber libbed to do it widout some powerful conjurin' and cahoots wid de ebil sperrits ? Dar's bad work about dem books, I'se afeared." He pointed to the work on natural history that lay on the table, open at a page whereon several moths were figured. "An' that's as true as preachin' !" It was Sarah's voice that broke the silence that fol- lowed Dan's discourse, which found credulous hearers among a good majority of our company. The cook had gradually hitched her chair nearer and nearer to the door, until, quite unable to withstand the fascination of Dan's superstitious remarks, as he lowered his voice she rose from her seat and now stood in the doorway. Her face was flushed with excitement, was wrought up into an expression of terror, and as she spoke she stretched out her arms like a prophetess. KG* 27. THE SHADOW OP A MOTH. p. 77. 79 80 TENANTS OF AN OLD VA&M. ; ' Dan never said truer words, though he isn't over- stocked with sense, for that matter. There's bad luck in them moths any way you take 'em. I never 'low a caterpillar to git into the house, and I wouldn't for the world. I tell you, I run for the broom quicker when I see one a-coming. Why, if it spins its nasty cocoon in the house it's a sure sign that death'll come, and no tellin' who'll be taken. If it gits in your clothes- press, or anywhere, and spins on your dress, it's a certain warnin' that you'll wear a shroud before the year's out. I've heerd that often, and jest know it's true. I don't like all them things that Mr. Mayfield has brought into the house, an' I told 'im so, too ! There, I've said my say !" Whereupon the good woman again retired to the shade of the kitchen-stove. I glanced around the circle, and observed that the countenances of my little audience showed varied emo- tions. A mingled expression of amusement and disap- probation sat upon the face of the Mistress ; evidently her ideas of domestic discipline had received somewhat of a shock. Abby could scarcely suppress the laughter that played around her lips. As for the rest, they looked perplexed and sober, and it was easily seen that the superstitions of Dan and Sarah had disturbed them. Of course, I could not let the matter pass without some explanation, and, as though divining my purpose, the mistress disposed of Sarah by sending her into the cel- lar for cider and apples. "We have been very fortunate this evening," I MOTHS AT THE FIRESIDE. 81 began, "in having living examples of the queer no- tions which many people have formed about these poor moths. Of course, they are mere superstitions, and very absurd. You needn't shake your head, Dan, it is quite true ; I shan't try to straighten out such an old fellow as you, but we mustn't let these young people fall into any such foolish beliefs. In earlier times people knew so little about natural histoiy, and were so filled with superstition generally, that they conceived all manner of ridiculous ideas of the living things around them, and their relations to man and his des- tiny. We have learned better now ; we know these birds, and beasts, and creeping things quite well ; for naturalists have studied their habits, and have inter- preted, m a simple and natural way, many of the strange sounds and sights that filled our forefathers with awe. Let us dismiss all such idle fancies." " But what is this story of Dan's, about the Death's- Head Moth ?" asked Abby. " I have heard something of that kind before." "Here is the insect," I answered, turning to a figure in the book before us. " These white markings on a dark thorax certainly have a striking resemblance to a skull and cross-bones, and this has given the insect its name (Acherontia atropos] ; but, like all similar resem- blances, it is simply one of the accidents of Nature. It is a European moth, and Dan very accurately illustrates the feelings with which it was formerly, and, indeed, is now, regarded by many people. Latreille informs us that the sudden appearance of these insects in a cer- TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. PIG. 28. DEATH'S HEAD MOTH AND LARVA. tain district of France, while the people were suffering from an epidemic disease, was considered by many per- sons the cause of the visitation. There is a quaint superstition in England that the Death' s-Head Moth has been very common in Whitehall ever since the ' martyrdom ' of Charles I. " The insect is widely distributed. I have seen fine specimens from Germany, Africa, and Asia, in the col- lections of Mr. Titian Peale and the American Ento- MOTHS AT THE FIRESIDE. 83 mological Society. (Fig. 28.) It is a fine insect, perhaps the largest in Europe the spread of wing sometimes reaching six inches. The larva is enor- mously large, sometimes five inches in length, and, like our Five-spotted Sphinx, feeds upon the potato- plant. The jessamine is also a favorite food-plant. But here is Sarah, with sweet cider and apples, and I see that Jenny is bringing us some cake. Suppose we give ourselves a short recess, in order to enjoy the refreshment." CHAPTER VI. PELLIONELLA AND POMONELLA A CHRONICLE OF "OLD CLO'S" AND WINDFALLS. " PERMIT me to add my contribution to the museum," said the Mistress, entering the room. She bore in her hands a rug, which she hung over the back of a chair close to the light. The little napless patches showing here and there like islands in an ocean, revealed the presence of that enemy of the housewife, the clothes- moth. "Ah! here we have something interesting," I ex- claimed. " There is no one of all the Lepidoptera whose habits better repay study than this little fellow." "What a pity," interrupted the Mistress, "that so many very interesting people and things in this world have the misfortune to be such miserable transgressors ! Now, here are these little wretches who play such havoc with our carpets, furs and cloths, so attractive in their characters that you natural philosophers all go off into enthusiasm over them. How do you account for such a seeming contradiction ?" " I allow that the little fellows are great rogues, and suppose it must be Nature's way to reconcile us to their mischief by bestowing upon them such cunning habits. 84 FIG. 29. THE MISTRESS'S CONTRIBUTION 86 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. Besides, what right have we to complain ? We slaughter birds and beasts for feathers and furs ; we kill the silk- moth to get us a gown, and then think it hard if this poor worm makes a few raids for food and clothing upon our stolen finery I No, no ! we must be just, at least. However, let us look at this rug closely, and I think we shall conclude that we have been well repaid for all our loss here. " There are several species of moths similar in habits, whose caterpillars feed upon animal substances, such as furs, woolens, silk and leather. Moreover, they are dreadful depredators in the naturalist's cabinet, devour- ing his specimens remorselessly, so that you see I have had occasion to practice the toleration and charity which I preach. And .why not? The .creatures are only fulfilling the mission imposed upon them by the great Author of their being to purify the world of its dead tissues. ''You might add to their virtues," suggested Abby, sarcastically, "the fact that they contribute largely to increase the stock of the ' old clo's ' merchant, and thus confer indirectly a favor on the poor by cheapening clothing." "Thank yoer.I" I replied. "Any championship is welcome to a losing side, and many a true word has been spoken in jest." " These moths belong to a family named Tinea by entomologists, such as the tapestry moth ( Tinea tapet- zella], the fur-moth (Tinea pellionelld), cabinet-moth (Tinea destructor], and clothes-moth (Tinea vestianella}. PELLIONELLA AND POMONELLA. 87 The species which has been at work upon this rug is probably Pellionella, the only ' clothes-moth ' known in the United States the larva of which constructs a case for its occupancy. "The moths themselves are very small, expanding their wings not more than eight-tenths of an inch. They are thus well fitted for making their way through minute holes and chinks. If they cannot find such a tiny avenue into wardrobe or bureau, or fail of the opportunity of an open drawer or door, they will con- trive to glide through the keyhole. Once in, it is no easy matter to dislodge them, for they are exceedingly agile vermin, and escape out of sight in a moment. The mother-insect deposits her eggs on or near such material as will be best adapted for the food of the young, taking care to distribute them so that there may be a plentiful supply and enough of room for each." "Isn't that a bit of pure maliciousness?" queried the Mistress. . " The mother, I suppose, scatters her eggs so that her ravenous caterpillars may do all the damage possible by attacking many parts of a garment at the same time." " That is a bit of pure maternal instinct," I answered. " The mother-moth wisely arranges that all her off- spring shall have a fair outset in life enough to eat and wear. When one of this scattered family issues from the egg its first care is to provide itself with a domicile, or, if you please, a dress. It belongs to that class of caterpillars that feed under cover. I once placed one upon a desk covered with green cloth and 88 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. set myself to watch it. It wandered about for half a day before it began operations. At last, having pitched upon a proper site, it cut out a filament very near the cloth, in order, I suppose, to have it as long as possible, and placed it on a line with its body. It then immedi- ately cut another, and placing it parallel with the first, bound both together with a few threads of its own siik. The same process was repeated with other hairs, till the little creature had made a fabric of some thickness, and this it went on to extend till it was large enough to cover its body. Its body, by-the-way, as is usual with caterpillars, is employed as a model and measure for regulating its operations." " That's a very human trait," said the Mistress ; "my mother invariably used part of her body as a yard- stick, measuring light material with outstretched arms, or with one full-length arm, counting from chin to fingers." "Mother Bond does that still," ventured Harry. "Ah, well," I said, " perhaps by-and-by we may find some starting-points for a bond of sympathy between the ladies and even a clothes-moth ! But to proceed. My caterpillar made choice of longer hairs for the out- side than for the inside, and the covering was at last finished within by a fine and closely woven tapestry of silk. I could only see the progress of its work by look- ing into the opening at either of the ends, for the cov- ering was quite opaque and concealed the larva. In weaving this lining the creature turns around by doubling itself and bringing its head where the tail had PELLIONELLA AND POMONELLA. FIG. 30. A CASE OP "OLD CLO'S" AND CHARITY. p. 86. been, the interior being left just wide enough for this purpose. " Its dress being in this way complete, the body quite covered, the larva begins to feed on the material of the cloth, which you see is its 'bed and board' and ward- robe besides. Soon, like a growing boy, our young Pel- lionella outgrows its clothes. As it has no father's or big brother's worn suits to furnish material, and no 90 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. mother who has learned the art of Burns' Scotch Cotter to 'gars auld claes look amaist as weel's the new,' it proceeds to enlarge its own garments. It sets to work as dexterously as any tailor, slitting the coat or case on the two opposite sides, and then adroitly inserting be- tween them two pieces of the requisite size. It man- ages all this so as not to expose its body, never slitting the whole length of the coat at once." " Why," exclaimed Abby, " the worm has learned the mystery of a gore I Here is certainly a fair beginning for that bond of sympathy of which you spoke be- tween the clothes-moth and the dressmaking part of womanhood !" " Shall we congratulate the moth or the mantua- maker on the connection ?" I asked. "Really, I am not quite so sure with an answer as I would have been a few moments ago. My re- spect for the little wretches has vastly increased. I don't know how I shall muster courage to kill them hereafter!" "By taking advantage of this pecular genius for patching," I continued, " or for gores, as Abby puts it, clothes-moths have been forced to make their tubular coats of divers colors and patterns. By shifting the caterpillar from one colored cloth to another the re- quired tints are produced, and the pattern is gained by watching the creature at work, and transferring it at the proper time. For example, a half-grown caterpillar may be placed upon a piece of bright green cloth. After it has made its tube, it may be shifted to a black PELLIONELLA AND POMONELLA. 91 cloth, and when it has cut the longitudinal slit and has filled it up, it can be transferred to a piece of scarlet cloth, so that the complementary colors of green and scarlet are brought into juxtaposition and ' thrown out ' by the contrast with the black. In this way the little worm, by friendly human manipulation, may by-and-by find itself arrayed, like the favorite son of Jacob, in 'a coat of many colors. 1 "The moth-worms pass the summer within these silk-lined rolls, some carrying them about as they move along, and others fastening them to the substance they are eating. Concealed within these movable cases, or lint-covered burrows, they ply the.ir sharp reaping-hooks amid the harvest of napery throughout the summer. In the fall they cease eating, make fast their habita- tions, and lie torpid during winter. Early in spring they change to crysalids within their cases, and in about twenty days thereafter are transformed to winged moths, which fly about in the evening until they have paired and are ready to lay eggs. "We are indebted to the Mistress for another contri- bution to our collection," I continued, picking up an apple from the dish. " This little brown hole in the side of our noble fruit suggests the story of a life. Do you know what made this opening, Joe ?" "Oh, yes, sir," was the ready response, " it is where an apple-worm got in, and you'll find it at the core." "Partly right and partly wrong. The apple-worm did make the hole, but this is not where it entered the fruit, and we shall not be likely to find it inside, a]- TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. FIG. 31. BURROW OF APPLE-WORM. though it is just possible that we may. However, let us cut the apple in half and see. Here, you observe, is a little burrow curving through the core between the eye (Fig. 31) and the hole in the skin, and branching off at the center, piercing the apple again at a point above. The worm that ate out this bur- row is the caterpillar of the codling-moth, Carpocapsa porno- nella. It is a small insect, its wings expanding three-fourths of an inch ; they have the ap- pearance of brown watered silk, and on the hinder margin of each of the forewings is a large oval brown spot, edged with copper-color. The hind- wings and abdomen have the lustre of satin." "Why is it called the codling-moth?" asked the Mistress. "Suppose we refer that to the Schoolma'am," I answered. "Suppose we refer it to the dictionary," said Abby, taking down the book from the shelf. "Here it is": " ' Codlin, or codling 'spelled with one d, by-the- way ' An immature apple.' And here are uses of the word, one by Shakespeare : ' A codling when 'tis al- most an apple ;' and one by King, * In cream and cod- lings reveling with delight.' I confess that is quite new to me. My notions of the word savored chiefly of PELLIONELLA AND POMONELLA. 93 our New England staple, codfish codling, a young cod. What a useful book a dictionary is !" " Yes, when one has learned the art of using it. Had you looked further you would probably have found that cod is an old word for pod. An apple is simply an edi- ble pod, the case that contains the seed of a tree. Now we may get back to our story. " Pomonella is an immigrant, not a native American ; she was imported to this country about the beginning of this century, and has so well improved her time and opportunities that her progeny may be found in nearly the whole of North America.' 1 "Whence did she come ?" asked Abby. " From Europe, directly, at least, to us." "There! I am glad to learn that," returned the Schoolma'am. " I shall make good use of the fact when I next hear of America's viciousness in sending the Colorado potato-beetle to England." "Well," said the Mistress, " didn't we send the potato first ? Surely, our cousins should share with us the entomological ' trimmings.' " " All of which," I resumed, " would scarcely recom- pense our apple-growers for great loss inflicted upon their orchards. There are two broods of insects every year. The early brood appears about the time of apple- blossoms, having spent the winter in the larval state. In spring the larvae change into brown crysalids ; shortly after, the moths appear. The female moths seek the young fruit just as it is forming, and deposit their tiny yellow eggs in the calyx or eye, that is, the 94 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. blossom end of the apple. Only one egg is laid on each apple, but as the mother has about fifty eggs to dispose of, you may suppose that a few wide-awake and healthy females can make sad havoc with a crop." " Ain't the" same apples visited by more'n one moth ?" asked Hugh. u Sometimes two worms will be found in one apple ; but this is quite rare, and the fact commonly illustrates the force and wisdom of the maternal instinct that directs the moth. " The eggs begin to hatch in about a week after they are laid, and the little caterpillars produced from them immediately burrow into the apples, making their way gradually from the eye toward the core. The caterpil- lar is of a whitish color ; its head is heart-shaped and black ; the top of the first ring or collar and of the last ring is also black, and there are eight little blackish dots or warts arranged in pairs on each of the other rings. As the larva grows the body becomes flesh- colored, the black parts turn brown, and the dots dis- appear. In the course of three weeks, or a little more, it comes to full size, and meanwhile has burrowed to the core and through the apple in various directions. The larva is so small at first that its presence can only be detected by the brownish powder that it pushes out in eating its way through the eye. This is made up of the ' castings ' or exuviae of the worm, and is a sure sign of infected fruit, as it often clings to the apple." " True enough !" exclaimed Hugh. " I've often seed PELLIONELLA AND POMONELLA. 95 them reddish-brown grains on worm-eaten apples, but never know'd w'at it was. But w'at's the idee in dumpin' 'em out this a- way ?" " Simply a wish to get rid of the refuse. Our cater- pillar is a very tidy housekeeper, and cleans its little habitation with a zeal that the ladies at least will commend. As it grows older it enlarges its quarters to suit its increased size, and gener- ally makes a second opening or door through the . T ox, i FIG. 32. COCOON, PUPA, FEMALE AND side of the apple, LAKVA OF THE > C0 ^ Q MOTH? AND out of which frag- A PARASITIC ICHNEUMON-FLY. 96 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. ments of food are cast. The effect of all these opera- tions is to ripen the apple before its time, and hence we have what are known as 'wind-falls,' although the wind is not necessary to bring down the precocious fruit, for it tumbles in the stillest weather. These worm-eaten apples are gathered up by basketfuls, and are among the earliest brought to our markets." " That is so," said Hugh ; " and, now I think of it, we get such good prices for these early wind-falls that I doubt whether the apple-worm does as much harm as I'd thought. Many's the hard word I've said agin the little beggars, an' I reckon I'll take some of 'em back." "What has become of the worm?" asked Abby, who had been carefully picking out the burrows in the cut apple. " There is certainly no trace of larva or crysalis here." " True, and for a quite sufficient reason, When the apples drop, and sometimes while they are still hang- ing, our codlings escape through the opening in the side (Fig. 32) and creep into chinks in the bark of the trees, or into other sheltered places, which they hollow out with their teeth to suit their shape. Here each one spins for itself a cocoon or silken case as thin, delicate, and white as tissue paper. This is disguised or pro- tected on the outside by attaching to silky threads small fragments of the bark of the tree or other available particles. (Fig. 32.) " Three days after the completion of the cocoon the larva changes to a crysalis. The pupa is a pale yellow PELLIONELLA AND POMONELLA. 97 color at first, which deepens in a day or two to pale brown. Two weeks thereafter the transformation is complete, and the imago or perfect moth escapes. This event occurs about the middle or latter part of July. Then follows the wedding-day, and in a few days more the female begins to deposit her eggs for the late brood of larvae, the late apples being generally selected for this purpose. These larvse mature during the autumn or early winter months. Sometimes they crawl out or swing themselves out before the apples are gathered, in which case they seek some sheltered nook under the loose bark of a tree, or other convenient hiding-place. But if carried with the fruit into the cellar, they of course spin their cocoons upon the boxes, bins, barrels, or walls." " I have it now !" exclaimed Hugh, abruptly. " Beg your pardon, sir, but I'd been try in' to think, w'ile you was tellin' about them cocoons, w'ere I'd seen sich ob- jecks, 'n I jest happened to remember. Las' winter I found hundreds of 'em spun up betwixt the staves and hoops of the apple bar'ls. I noticed 'em as a cur'us thing, but didn't know w'at to make of 'em, and never tho't of 'em ag'in until now. Them was apple-worms ; I'm sure of it now." "I have no doubt of it, Hugh; and you provided them with snug winter-quarters, and then allowed them to escape, to come out last spring by companies to infest the apples. But you'll know better another time, I dare say." "That I will, sir; and I'll pass the hint around 98 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. among my neighbors, too. There's a worm that bores into the pears, pretty much in the same way as the apples. Is that the same varmint ?" " Yes ; the apple-worm is very destructive to the pear, and is also found on the wild crab, and occasion- ally on the plum and peach. And now I believe that I have finished the story of Pomonella and how she punctures our apples." "A very pretty tale it is, too," said Abby, looking up with a bright smile. " One of my classes was read- ing yesterday the legend of William Tell and the Apple, and I have just been wondering whether some of our myth-hunting critics and historians might not find the origin of that favorite story in the adventures of a codling-moth ! I can fancy the mother Pomonella personating the tyrant Gessler, and imposing upon our Caterpillar the William Tell of Insect-world, you know the destiny of forever piercing apples !" "But what will you have to represent the Switzer's little boy?" I asked. "Oh, the apple-bough, of course; and how nicely the idea of youth's immature age harmonizes w r ith our definition of a ' codling ' the punctured, immature fruit!" "At all events," said the Mistress, when the laugh at Abby's sally had ceased, "your mothical Tell main- tains the legendary hero's reputation for archery. It rarely fails to ' bring down ' the apple. But, really, I didn't know that our schoolmistress had such a genius for the so-called ' higher criticism P " PELL10NELLA AND POMONELLA. FIG. S3. A MOTHICAL VERSION OP TELL AND THE APPLE. "Can you tell, please," asked Hugh, who had not ijuite grasped our by-play and evidently wanted some- thing more practical, "how to get rid of the worms? I've tried smokin' them out, burnin' weeds under the trees, but that don't seem to amount to much." 100 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. " Of course, any smoking, to be effective, should be done in the season when the moths are laying their eggs. That may smother or drive away the mothers. I would recommend carefully scraping off the loose and rugged bark of the trees in the spring, in order to de- stroy the crysalids. Perhaps the most effective plan is the old-fashioned band-trap. A band of old cloth or a twist of common brown paper is wound around or hung in the crotches of the trees, or wrapped about the trunk. In these the apple-worms will conceal themselves, and thus great numbers of the larva and cocoons may be taken and destroyed from the time when they first begin to leave the apples, during the last of May, until the fruit is gathered. Of course, the bands should be often examined. There is one precaution, however, that is certainly very useful. As the Iarva3 leave the fruit soon after it drops from the trees, the wind-fallen apples should be gathered up daily and such immediate use made of them as will be sure to kill the insects before they have time to escape." "Oh, dear!" cried Abby, laughing, "that means fresh cider /"and she pointed to our empty glasses. " Shan't I help you to a little more ? You must be thirsty from talking." " Certainly ; you shall not destroy my relish for the drink even though you make it sure that Hugh and Dan did put a few worm-eaten apples into the mill. I am reminded of a remark that I recently heard Dr. Joseph Leidy make at a meeting of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. He had been making a PELLIONELLA AND POMQNfiLLA: 1-01 communication upon a certain large parasitic worm whose ' host ' is our famous 'Delaware shad,' and con- cluded by saying that a portion of the fish which I forbear to name out of respect for the epicures that is considered the most delicious morsel of all, owes its delicate flavor to the presence of this parasite 1 ' I suppose,' said the distinguished naturalist, 'that our shad-loving friends would cease to relish this tidbit if they only knew the facts. But, then, why should they ? for the parasite is composed of pure shad, and nothing more.' So I say of " "Oh, you needn't explain," interrupted the Mistress, " the application is quite obvious. But for the benefit of the rest of the family, if not for your sake, I beg to say that Hugh has strict instructions to use only sound apples for cider." " True enough, ma'am," said the farmer ; " and you may be sure that we are all very careful. Miss Abby says that takin' care of win'-falls means cider. Not at all, ma'am ; it means good feed for the pigs and for the cows, too, for that matter." " I recant, I recant," cried Abby ; " and so encour- aged, I also will renew niy glass." CHAPTER VII. MEASURE FOR MEASURE. " I HOPE yo's gwine to hab mo' ob dem talks 'boout de insecks, Mars Mayfiel'." So Dan greeted me a few days after our first fireside meeting. He twirled his battered hat brim through his horny hands, then rubbed a white palm against the back of his grizzled locks, ducked his head forward and continued : "I doan jes kno' w'at yo 'd call 'em, sah, but Saiy Ann 'lowed dey's say-an'-says. ' An' w'at are say-an'-says, Sary Ann?' says I. 'Wai,' says she, ' dey 's a sort ob free an' easy kine o' talk, w'ar yo says, an' den I says, an' all jine in an' helps de talk along. Now dat 's a powerful pleasant kine ob affar, Mars Mayfield, an' suits us 'ns heap better 'n loafin' roun' de kentry store, an' sich. So we uns dat 's Hugh's folks an' Sary Ann an' me we makes bold to ax yo, wouldn't yo 'low us de priv'lege ob jinin' in de say-an'-says, in case yo gwine to hab mo' ob 'em, an' we sincerely hope yo is." "Why, Dan, I hadn't thought much about it," I answered. "But you may be sure if there should be any more ' say-an'-says,' you all will be welcome to the fireside." "T'ank yo, sah ; we 's all powe'ful 'bleeged to yuh, MEASURE FOR MEASURE. 103 FIG. 34. THE GEOMETRID HORROR. p. 104. an' hopes we '11 hab de pleasure ob yo company at anoder conbersashull family fireside say-an'-say, bery soon." Although I laughed at Dan's magniloquence, I was more gratified at that hearty honest approval of my humble dependents than I had often been before at commendations of cultured friends. To be sure, I learned by-and-by that the Mistress was also in the plot, and that Dan's praises were in good part an echo of her promptings ; but the pleasure of the moment was not dimmed by that knowledge. Thus it came about that the next Saturday evening found our house- 104 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. hold gathered in the old sitting-room for another ento- mological ' seance. ' Where Sarah had picked up that word, and how she had managed to transform it. we never learned, but we were all so impressed with the superiority of her version, that the cook's title was at once naturalized, and ' the Tenant's Say-an'says ' be- came one of the current phrases of our little realm when we were in a merry mood. " I have here a specimen," I began, "plucked from a straggling sprig of wood-wax or dyer's weed (Genista tinctoria) which represents a very familiar race of cater- pillars, the Geometers, or span-worms. They are so called from the mode of walking peculiar to the larvse. Most of these have only ten legs, six of which are jointed and tapering, under the fore part of the body, and four fleshy prop legs at the hinder extremity. There are no legs on the middle of the body, and con- sequently the caterpillars are unable to crawl in the usual manner. When one wishes to advance it grasps the object firmly with its fore feet, and then draws up the hind feet close to them, not unlike the attitude of a cat which meets a strange dog. The hinder feet then take a firm hold and the body is projected forward until the fore feet can repeat the process. This mode of progression is popularly called 'loop- ing,' and the caterpillars are called ' loopers.' " The Geometers live as larvse on trees and bushes, and most of them undergo their transformations in the ground, to reach which by traveling along the branches and down the trunk by their peculiar gait would be a MEASURE FOR MEASURE. 105 long and tedious journey. But they are not reduced to this necessity, for they have 1 the power of letting themselves down from any height by means of a silken thread which they spin from their mouths while falling. Whenever they are disturbed they make use of this FIG. 35. ORGYIA LETJCOSTIGMA, TUSSOCK MOTH. MALE, FEMALE AND LARVA, NATURAL SIZE. p. 106. faculty, drop down suddenly and hang suspended till the danger is past, after which they climb up again by the same thread." "These, then," said the Mistress, "are the little 106 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. creatures that used to make a promenade along our streets in summer a horror to ladies before the advent of the sparrows ?" " The very same ; but I doubt whether citizens have made a favorable exchange for the pretty hairy creeper, the caterpillar of the Tussock-moth (Orgyialeucvstigma), (Fig. 35), that now fills the squares, fences and walls with its knobby white cocoons. " (Fig. 36). " Why, don't the sparrows eat them, too?" asked Abby. "Ah, a mere question of taste. The soft, smooth, Geometers are a dainty bit to the birds, and the plumed crawlers are not at all to their liking. Why, I have seen the very bird-boxes in the public square covered with the Tussock-moth's cocoons crown- ed with their white egg-masses. Were the caterpillars crawling at their very doors, and their hungry fledglings gaping for food, the parent birds would come home without supplies rather than forage upon the Orgyia worms. So the larvae breed securely and in yearly increasing numbers. " If a little wise energy and forethought could be shown by the city authorities in this matter, the evil could soon be remedied. The chief rl ' es of these cocoons FIG. 36. COCOON or TUSSOCK MOTH, NATURAL SIZE. MEASURE FOR MEASURE. 107 are the iron fences around the squares, the trunks of trees, the walls and fence cornices of adjacent properties. If these were thoroughly cleansed, the cocoons scraped out and burned in winter, there would be a scant crop of span-worms in summer. For several years I have watched these troublesome cocoons advancing a little further each season up the trunks of the trees and mul- tiplying along public places, and I have more than once predicted that the nuisance would ere long be well-nigh intolerable. But an American city, like Issachar among the tribes, is a ' strong ass crouching down between two burdens,' who sees 'that rest is good ' and ' bows his shoulders to bear, ' and hardly even exercises the healthy Anglo-Saxon right of grumbling at official ignorance and neglect. So canker-worms not those alone which are comparatively harmless, but those of the moral, social and political sort breed in public places, crawl unmolested through every highway and byway, and spin and nest in all departments of communal administration and life. Alas ! Well, ' a stitch in time saves nine.' " "And there are some citizens," cried the Mistress, apparently quite oblivious of my figurative speech and philosophy, and reverting to the encroachments of the Orgyia, " who allow those dreadful worms to crawl up their very walls and doorways and build cocoons under the mouldings and ledges of doors and windows quite unmolested. I see hundreds of them housed in such places the entire year. Such house-keep- ing ! I can't understand how ladies will tolerate it." "Perhaps," suggested Abby, "they tolerate the 108 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. worms out of the same mercifulness from which they feed the vixenish sparrows who refuse to kill the worms." u A truce to our moralizing," I said ; "let us return to our span-worm hanging from the tree. The manner in which it ascends its thread is most interesting. In order to do this it bends back its head and catches hold of the thread above its head with one of the legs of the third segment of the body. It then raises its head and seizes the thread with its jaws and forelegs, and by repeating the same operations with tolerable rapidity it soon reaches its former station on the tree. There is another interesting habit which these Geom- eters possess ; when not eating, many of them can rest on the two hindermost pairs of legs against the side of a branch, and stretching out the body nearly horizontally, remain in that position for hours, so that they might easily be mistaken for the twig of a tree. If Joe and Harry would like to get some slight idea of the muscular force required to perform this action, let them grasp an up- right pole with their hands and try to hold the body out horizontally. The feats of trained gymnasts in the circus ring or turnverein are fairly outdone by these despised span-worms. I think that you will agree with me that they are interesting little fellows. Moreover, notwithstanding the disgust with which, as the Mistress says, the city folk used to regard them as they dropped from the trees, I venture that there are plenty of people who would rather welcome their presence than other- wise. Perhaps some of our young people can tell us why V" MEASURE FOR MEASURE. "I can, sir," Harry answered promptly. "Jenny used to say that it was a sign we were goin' to git a new coat when one 01 them caterpillars was seen steppin' off distance on our FIG. 37. OUR IMPORTED PROTECTORS, MUTUAL DISGUST. p. 106. English Sparrow to Irish Guardian of American Peace" Do your own nahsty work, sir ; H'engllsli sparrows, sir, didn't come 'ere to eat hup your nahsty H'american worms 1" arms or back. We call them 'measuria' worms 1 on that account." " Yes, that is the idea : a new coat when seen meas- uring the arms or back, a new pair of gloves when seen looping on the hand, and so through the whole suit. I fear that, like many another local prophet, their promise is better than their fulfillment. However, we 110 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. cannot deny that in the proper season they are very diligent in suggesting the subject of new clothes to all passers-by who credit their prophetic office." "A quality, by-the-way," said Abby, "which they share in common with the ' Barkers' in front of Market Street and Chatham Street clothing stores. And, like 'Barkers,' I imagine that their attentions are more respected by country folk than city people." "Here is another of the Looper tribe, or rather a mother-moth, which fortunately I have been able to collect. I have two specimens, and they are mounted upon this bit of cork. Pass them around the circle and \Qt all have a good look at them. They are not very familiar creatures in their moth or perfect form, but they are quite too well known in the larval state. Come, Miss Abby. you seem to be studying that speci- men very closely, and mean- while Hugh is anxious to see it, and will be much more so when he learns what it is. What is the matteC now?" I asked, as the Schoolteacher shook her head and handed the insect to Hugh, with an incredul- ous 'Humph!' "My poor moth appears to have ex- cited your indignation !" (Fig. 38.) " Truly so," replied Abby. " I confess myself a tyro FIG. 3S. A MOTHER MOTH. MEASURE FOR MEASURE. Ill V* FIG. 39. A GEOMETKID TUKNVEREIN. p. 108. in all branches of entomology, and it would be a sorry victory for a specialist who should impose on me. But really, I think that I have learned enough even within the last few days to prevent you palming that creature upon me as a nwth. Why, it doesn't resemble that in- sect in the least." 112 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. " So say I," echoed the Mistress. " And what says Hugh VI asked, as the sturdy fel- low turned the insect around slowly and carefully scru- tinized it on all sides. " Well, sir, I I begin to find that I know so leetle 'bout the commonest sorts o' critters that I don't like to venture a 'pinion. But ef that 's a moth, I reckon you 've pulled its w r ings off. "Not a bad guess," I said, laughing. " But I assure you that it is a moth, and that I have not pulled its wings off. However, not to keep you in suspense, I may tell you that in certain species of moths the female is wing- less. The pretty feathered caterpillar that we spoke of a little while ago as now infesting our public squares has a wingless mother. This is another example ; it is a veritable moth, the female of a species known as the orchard moth (Anisopteryx.pometaria, Harris), a variety perhaps of the vernal moth (Anisoptyrex vernata. Peck). It is the mother of our northern canker-worm." . "The canker-worm? Indeed!" exclaimed Hugh. "Let me look at the creatur' again, please. Well, well ! who would have tho't such pestiferous gangs UV T varmin "d a-sprung from a mite uv a beast like that !" (Fig. 40.) "For my part," said the Mistress, "I think her quite ugly enough to be the mother of any kind of odious creature. Moreover, I shall owe her an addi- tional grudge because our good professor here used her to victimize so mercilessly his confiding pupils. Think what our Schoolma'am " " Oh, dear, no !" interrupted Abby, smiling good- MEASURE FOR MEASURE. 113 naturedly. " I decidedly deserved it ; and, besides, I practice similar modes of impressing facts upon my pupils, and as it serves admirably, I can't complain in this case. I am sure that I, at least, will not forget that some mother- moths are wingless." "Very good, then; since I am fully ab- solved, I may resume our story. I captured these specimens as they were making their way up one of our apple trees, having just left the U ^ 1U FIG. 40.-ORCHARD MOTH, WING- LESS FEMALE, WINGED MALE, thev had matured. It AND LARVA. was formerly supposed that the canker-worm moths came out of the ground only in the spring. It is now known that many of them rise in the autumn and early part of the win- ter. In mild and open winters I have seen them in every month from October to March. They begin to make their appearance after the first hard frosts in the Fall, usually toward the end of October and continue to come forth in numbers according to the mildness of the weather after the frosts have begun. "However, their general time of rising is in the spring, beginning about the middle of March, and they continue to come forth for the space of about three 114 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. weeks. The sluggish females instinctively make their way to the nearest trees, and creep slowly up their trunks. Their husbands, having better facilities for traveling, inasmuch as they are winged, delay their ad- vent a few days, when they also leave their earthen cells and join the females, fluttering about and accom- panying them in their ascent. " Soon after this the females lay their eggs upon the branches of the trees. They place them on their ends close together in rows, forming clusters of from sixty to one hundred eggs or more, which is the number usually laid by each female. The eggs are glued to each other and to the bark by a grayish varnish which is impervious to water ; and the clusters are thus securely fastened in the forks of the small branches, or close to the young twigs and buds. The eggs are usually hatched between the first and the middle of May, or about the time that the red currant is in blossom and the young leaves of the apple-tree begin to start from the bud and grow. The little canker-worms, upon making their escape from the eggs, gather upon the tender leaves and begin to eat. If there comes a snap of cold, and during rainy weather, they creep for shelter into the bosom of the bud, or into the flowers when they appear. The leaves first attacked will be found pierced with small holes ; these become larger and more irregular when the canker-worms increase in size, and at last nearly all the pulpy parts are consumed, leaving little more than the midrib and veins. " The worms when well fed grow to be an inch long ; MEASURE FOR MEASURE. 115 FIG. 41. THE CLOTHES BARKER'S PARADISE. . 110. they quit eating when about four weeks old, and begin to leave the trees ; some creep down by the trunk, but great numbers let themselves down by threads from the branches, their instinct prompting them to get to the ground by the most direct and easiest course." " Oh. yes," said Joe, " I have seen them hanging that way from the branches that jut across the road. It kept us dodging to get rid uv 'em as we drove along." "Aye, and I doubt not you helped nature in disturb- ing the little fellows along the road-side, for they lay hold upon passing objects and are carried goodly dis- tances before shaken off. When they reach the ground they immediately burrow in the earth to the depth of 116 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. from two to six inches, and make little cavities or cells by turning around repeatedly and fastening the loose grains of earth about them with a few silken threads. Within twenty-four hours afterward, they are changed to crysalids in their cells, where, as we have seen, they transform in the autumn and winter as well as spring. They usually come out of the ground in the night, when the females may be seen straggling through the grass from various points of the area bounded by the spread of the branches, and making toward the trunk." "You didn't tell us what becomes of the mother- moths," suggested Harry. " There is little more to be said about them, for they are very short-lived ; when they have laid their eggs they begin to languish, and soon die." " You spoke of the worms takin' to the apple-trees," said Hugh, " but I find thet they aren't very pertikler in their tastes, so 's they kin git a holt 'v suthin' thet damages the farmer. I 've found "em on the cherry and plum, and they 're special fond uv the elm." " That is true ; and you might extend their bill of fare to some other cultivated and native trees, as well as many shrubs." " Is this the canker-worm of which we read in the Bible V" asked the Mistress. " It seems to have been a great scourge to the people of Palestine and those parts. " "It is not easy to answer that question. The exact meanings of words used in the Hebrew Testament to express all forms of animal life, are hard to determine. Some have supposed the word translated 'canker- MEASURE FOR MEASURE. 117 worm ' to refer to the locust or at least to the larva of the locust ; but the words rendered ' palmer-worm' and ' caterpillar ' seem to have had reference to some species of canker-worm." " I should like it amazingly if you could tell me how to get rid of the varmin," remarked Hugh. "Practical entomology is not much in my line," I answered, "and I fear that such a theme would not greatly interest the majority of our little circle. But I can tell you of an ancient remedy that was supposed to be very effective. In the early part of the seventeenth century the peasants in many places in Germany took this mode : they pulled a stake from a hedge, looped around it a rope which they rapidly drew back and forth until the friction kindled it into a flame. This they carefully fed with stubble and dry wood. When the bonfire had quite burned out the peasants collected the ashes and spread them over their garden vegetables, confident that by this means they could drive away the canker-worm. This fire they called the 'Nodfeur,' or, as we might say, the * Need-fire.' " "You don't mean to say, sir," asked Hugh, "that you think the Nodfeur ashes really did any good in keeping off" the canker-worms?" " Why not ?" I inquired. "Tut, tut!" exclaimed the Mistress. "I am sure you don't indorse any such nonsense. It was pure superstition that prompted the custom, and you haven't much of that element in your mental make-up, I know well.-" 118 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. "The question." I rejoined, "was not whether the custom originated in or was maintained by superstition, but whether the Nodfeur ashes were beneficial ; and I answer that confidently in the afiirmati ve. If one were to sprinkle such material upon the vegetables when covered with the morning dew it would adhere to the leaves and thus make them distasteful to the caterpillars. This says nothing of the effect of the potash in the ashes, which may be injurious, nor of the dislike of larvse and, indeed, of many insects to move over surfaces covered with pulverized matter. I attribute nothing at all, of course, to the effect of ihe fetich, but much to the protec- tion given by making the natural food-plant obnoxious to the worms. " There .is another element which enters into the utility of this and all like remedies. Many years ago I read an incident which illustrates my thought. I re- peat it from memory, and cannot vouch for all the de- tails, but give the substance of the story as I remember it. A noble German lady found that despite her best endeavor there was a vast wastage in her household and a consequent trenching upon her limited income. At last she went to a hermit famous for godliness and wisdom, and asked for a charm to protect her from this grief. The good man gave her a little sealed box, containing the required charm, instructing her to place the same in one corner of every room in her house and out-buildings once every day, varying as much as pos- sible the hour of her daily visit. He bade her, also, return at the end of a year to report results. MEASURE FOR MEASURE. 119 "A year passed and the lady returned with good news and a grateful offering. The charm had wrought wonders. Her household was never in such goodly condition, the wastage had stopped, the continual anx- iety over insufficient income had ceased, her husband was delighted, her neighbors full of praise. She begged for a renewal of the charm, declaring that she would not be without it for much money. " The monk broke the seal and showed the contents of the box. It was empty 1 ' See,' he said, ' there is no charm here ! That which has wrought the good re- sults over which you rejoice, has been your own care for every part of your house. As you went to each room you saw what was needed and supplied it, what was wrong and righted it. Your eyes were upon all your men and maids, as well as on their work every day, and they felt the influence of this oversight. There has been no other charm than this, and you need no other. Go, lady, and henceforth hold faithfully to the rule and ha'bit of the past year, and be assured that your home will be a well-ordered, prosperous and happy one.' ' "Truly," said the Mistress, "that was a wise old monk. I can vouch for it that a constant personal inspection of all one's house, especially of the cuddies and corners, will work like a charm toward good housekeeping. But really, I don't quite take the ap- plication of your story to the German peasants and their canker-worms." " Indeed ! Then you are not apt as usual to see a point. In fighting insect pests it is precisely as in 120 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. housekeeping. The constant oversight of every plant discovers the destroyer and leads to its prompt destruc- tion. The man who daily visits his growing vegetables, with or without ashes or other preventive, will see the canker-worms and kill them. Nor does once going over the crop serve. The worms are legion ; each day has its own host, which must be met that day before devasta- tion begins. I have the notion that the old-time Nodfeur custom may have looked also to this point. Perhaps some wise observer, who knew that men will often maintain good habits better under the spur of a superstition than the stimulus of simple good sense and experience, may have set his neighbors to defend their crops by the invention of a bit of supposed harmless superstition. Or, more likely, the superstition gradually grew around what was originally only a wise rule of successful horticulture. " "Well, sir," remarked Hugh, "You 're quite right in thinkin' that constant watchin' is the great thing in raisin' garden sass. I 've had the best kind o' luck in the very worst years for worms and bugs, jist by goin' over and over the wines. I knock off the critters into a pan an' then kill 'em. It 's a good deal o' trouble, but ef a man wants wegetables he 's got to do it, I reckon. There 's allus a few days w'en the varmin is particlar bad, an' by standin' to 't mornin' and evenin' durin' those days a feller '11 come out purty well." CHAPTEE VIII. INSECT TROGLODYTES. ONE of our favorite walks, during these autumn days, leads across the meadow, down the hill-slope, over the brooklet, and so, by a rocky steep beyond, through a thick woods to the banks of drum creek. On the oc- casion of which I am now to write my companion was an elderly clerical friend, the Rev. Dr. Goodman. The Doctor is a noble example of the old-time clergyman. His tall, -sturdy frame, scarcely bowed by his seventy years, is alwavs robed in becoming black, never, in any contingency, omitting the indispensable dress-coat. His full curly white hairs fall upon his neck beneath a broad-brimmed black hat, a compromise between the Quaker pattern and a Yankee wide-awake. His strong, benignant face is clean-shaved, and his well-turned chin, just verging upon the " double," is lifted above a broad, white choker, between the wide-apart points of an old- fashioned standing collar. In these latter days his waistcoat has expanded somewhat above a growing rotundity, and beneath it a goodly fobchain protrudes. The gold watch to which it dangles, and the portly gold-headed cane which he carries, are both the gifts of his warmly-attached parishioners. His salary is modest enough, though somewhat more generous than Goldsmith's parson, " passing rich with forty pounds a 121 122 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. year ;" but as his church owns a cozy manse and ample glebe, he lives contentedly and even comfortably, with his wife and two daughters. His home is at Marple, six miles across the hills, and he has driven over to spend a night at the Old Farm and renew a pleasant friendship formed during seasons when one summer had been spent within his parish. As his rumbling old carryall turned down our avenue behind the fat, chestnut-bay horse whose lazy jog-trot is known through all the country side, the familiar sight stirred up very pleasant thoughts. "My clear Doctor," I exclaimed, greeting him at the gate, " you are welcome, indeed ! To what fair fortune are we indebted for this pleasant surprise ?" The good minister was altogether too guileless to ward off this direct query without uncovering the truth. He blushed, hesitated and glanced appealingly at the Mis- tress, who had now joined in the greeting. " Ah ! I see how it is," I said, coming to the relief of the embarrassed parties; "another conspiracy in my behoof!" "Just so, just so!" exlaimed the Doctor, nodding his head with unction, while his face beamed a happy smile. "And I'm heartily glad the cat 's out of the bag, although I suspect this particular cat is a very harmless kitten ! However, it 's all right now, and I 've come to spend the evening with you." So I knew that the hand of the little Mistress, the true guardian angel of those invalid days, had touched the spring that moved the Doctor hitherward ; as, FIG, 42, ANCIENT CAVE-DWELLERS. p. 124, 124- TENANTS- OF AN OLD FARM. indeed, it had similarity done on so many kindred occa- sions. The Doctor, like most of his profession, has always had an intelligent interest in natural science, and, more- over, cultivated a speciality in ethnology and arche- ology. He is deep in the problem of man 's antiquity ; and what with works on "Preadamites," " Cave-Hunting," "The Epoch of the Mammoth," "The Story of Earth and Man," "The Races of Man," etc., has a busy time in keeping his friends of the modern school in harmony with his older friends of the Usherian Bible chronology. He brought over with him, on his present visit, a recent work on " Early Man in Europe," which we had abundantly (not to say thoroughly) dis- cussed during the evening after the lamps had been lit and- a fire kindled on the hearth. "Just for the wee bit blinkin' o' the ingle," wife said, "and to mellow the night chill of the advancing fall." The frontispiece of the Doctor's book is some ideal scene of troglodytic life. It is a night scene : a fire is burn- ing in front of a rocky cavern, around which the dusky forms of a primitive family are grouped ; a full moon shines in the background, and in the foreground a pack of hungry wolves are pushing up over the rocks as near as they dare come to the fire, which thus, in more than one sense, protects the unconscious cave-men (Fig. 42.) The picture, at least, succeeded in stirring up the im- aginations of our Mistress and the inquisitive School- ma'am, so that the Doctor had full room to expand upon his favorite theme, INSECT TROGLODYTES. 125 "Well, Doctor," I said, when we had finished morn- ing worship, "I have something to show you down here that will gratify your antiquarian interest in your fellow- men. Moreover, I think I can put you on the trail of a race of troglodytes of even more ancient descent than those of whom you told us last night." " Indeed ! But tut ! you are trying to quiz me, I see." " Not in the least ; get your hat and cane, and let us walk over to the creek ; you shall judge if I am not in good earnest." "Well, well, I confess that I am incredulous still; but it 's a fine morning for a walk, at any rate, and there 's nothing gives such interest to a journey as some pleasant motive and destination." " There 's a deal of deep philosophy in that remark," continued the good man after a pause, during which he had arrayed himself for the excursion, "a philosophy that one does well to apply to all the pilgrimage of this life and its final destination, which I hope may be a happy one for us all. Ah ! excuse me, I really did not mean to preach !" And he did not, for the blush mantled his face, and he looked askance at me as though anticipating my displeasure. We were now fairly afield, and our thoughts turned again upon the troglo- dytes. "There is one thing," I said, "that puzzles me in your view of the early cave-men. May I ask how you reconcile it with your belief as to the condition of the original pair of Eden ?" 126 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. "To be sure ! There 's no contradiction at all. Adam and Eve were very primitive, indeed, in their habits. Their moral nature was unclouded therein lay their original perfectness. They were civilized men in that respect ; in other particulars they simply had the rudiments of civilization. With natural in- telligence such as man now possesses, with knowledge of fire, and situated in a soft and congenial climate, they rapidly developed, as we see in the family of Cain, the arts of herding, music, and smelting metals." "Well, but were they troglodytes? Did they have those horrible struggles with the wild beasts of the earth hinted at in your book ?" "Certainly not ; their environment saved them from such necessities. But then some of their posterity, as they scattered over the earth, relapsed from many of the acquired arts of civilized men, as they became vicious in morals, and falling upon adverse surroundings, it is not strange that they should have been troglodytes or cave-men of the rudest type quite as savage as tribes of which we know to-day. But pray, what is this ? A grave, here in the meadow ?" We had been quietly jogging along the path, and now stopped beside a marble slab fixed in the midst of the field, that might easily have been taken for a grave- stone. It was eighteen inches in height, six in thick- ness and seven in width. It sloped with the descent of the hill, and around its base clumps of grass, clover and sheep-sorrel had gathered. The Doctor lost no time in donning his spectacles, INSECT TROGLODYTES 127 FIG. 43. CAVE-DWELLERS ANCIENT AND MODERN. and kneeling down beside the stone read the inscrip- tion : sotones, DWELLING 1685. 128 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. "This is your antiquarian rarity, is it ?" he asked, rising. "It is certainly worth seeing ; and now let us have its story, although I could guess the nature of it. I believe the name is that of one of our good old Quaker families, and the date carries us so near to the era of the settlement of our State that I readily conjecture the fact here commemorated." "Yes, I see that you have easily guessed the truth, although it is often puzzling enough to those less fam- iliar with our pioneer history. This farm was first brought under culture by Jane Townes, one of the early Quaker emigrants, who, with her three sons, came over to Friend William Perm's colony soon after the great founder's landing. The husband and father died on ship- board during the voyage to America ; but the widow, with genuine pluck and faith, took up the burden of colonial settlement, and bought a plantation which included in its bounds our old farm. On this spot they made their first dwelling ; they dug into the slope of the hill just here, threw out rough supports much like the props in a coal drift, and banked up the whole, thus making what was known as a 'cave.' Here the widow with her sons lived until timber could be cut from the thick woods that covered the site, and hewn and builded into a log house. One of her descendants had this cave-stone erected to mark the site of what was the first home of a white family in this neighborhood. The present stone farm-house has not yet seen its first century, having been built A. D. 1792." " Well, that was a courageous woman certainly !" ex- INSECT TROGLODYTES. 129 claimed the doctor, ' ' and her pluck deserves a much better monument. However, I have no doubt she and her boys enjoyed their rude life quite as much as their descendants do these days of civilized abundance. There is a streak of the nomad in most men. Where was ever the boy who didn't long for a Robinson Crusoe's cave ? There was always a fascination for me, when a lad in Ohio, in certain caves among the rocky masses of the Little Beaver. In those days the chief charm of a fishing jaunt was the fire and the noon lunch in caverns or under jutting rocks. I am sure that I should have greatly enjoyed those old pioneer days, so I will waste no pity on the hardships of good Jane Townes. But I must claim the other part of your promise. Where are the traces of those cave-men more ancient than the men of the Dordogne ? I am eager to inspect them." "Not so fast. Doctor. I did, indeed, promise you a sight of most ancient cave dwellers, but I said not a word of cave-men. My troglodytes are of the insect world, and, see there ! Your foot has well nigh trodden upon the entrance to one of them." The Doctor started back suddenly and looked down- ward. I stooped at his side and pointed out a little structure of straw that marked the cave of a turret spider, Tarentula arenicola. (Fig. 44.) " Come, my good friend," I continued, "don your spec- tacles once more and join me in this search. Here is one of my ancient cave-dwellers, and I warrant that its ancestors were here to gaze in dumb wonder at the in- 130 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. trading cave dwelling and log cabin of the Quaker pioneers." " Ah, you rogue !" said the Doctor, as he adjusted his glasses, "you quite deceived me, I confess ; but I par- don you in advance, for I dare say that you will abundantly reward my curiosity, although in another direction.'' The object to which our attention was directed re- sembled in miniature a chimney of mud and sticks, such as one may see upon log huts on the frontier. A circu- lar opening in the ground an inch wide was sunk downward quite out of sight. Around this on the surface was built, in the form of an irregular pentagon, a little chimney or turret, composed chiefly of bits of grass-straw and stalks of weeds, crossed at the corners and raised one above another to the height of nearly two inches. The inside of this tube was lined with a thin sheeting of silken web which was carried for a little distance below the surface. Particles of earth were intermingled with the sticks. " Do you mean to say," exclaimed the Doctor, " that this is the nest of a spider ?" " You shall see for yourself," I answered, " for I have brought with me the means for exploring the interior of our cave-dweller's home. But first we may as well save this part of the nest as a specimen for our cabinet." I filled the turret with a tuft of cotton to prevent it from breaking up under the handling, then carefully cut it away from the surface with a large knife and laid it in a paper box. Next I quite filled up the hole, which INSECT TR GL OD YTES. 131 FIG. 44. TURRET SPIDER'S NEST AND TOWER. extended ten inches straight downward, with cotton, which was gently pushed down with a stick. " Pray why do you do that ?" asked the Doctor. " I have three purposes : one is to prevent the broken soil from falling in upon the spider who is down there at the bottom of the cave ; another is to mark the 132 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. track of the tube as the earth is cut away ; a third to prevent the spider's escape. "By the way, I was once led upon an interesting ob- servation by this mode of filling up the burrows. Having a desire to keep a turret spider under close study, I cut out a burrow and took it home, preserved entire in the midst of the sod in which it had been dug. The spider was shut in by the cotton forced into the opening, and was kept in by a cotton plug in the lower part of the tube. Having snugly domiciled the exile by inserting her nest into fresh soil and sod packed in a half-keg, I removed the cotton from the upper part of the burrow, and left the occupant to work according to her own fancy. I was compelled to be absent for three days, and when I left home the spider was engaged in pulling out the cotton plug which had been placed in the bottom of the tube. Several pellets were already scattered around the turret. On my return I found the tower strangely transformed ; the whole interior was lined with the cotton, which extended an inch or more below the surface and lipped over the top-wall. This novel lining was laid on as smoothly as though done by the delicate hand of an upholsterer." " Very strange, indeed !" the Doctor exclaimed. "A most admirable instinct 1 Although, perhaps, it is hardly after the manner of what I have thought an in- stinctive act to be. Certainly there could have been no hereditary tendency to such a use of the cotton fibre. What think you ?" "Undoubtedly our spider had come upon new expe- INSECT TROGLODYTES. 133 FIG. 45. COTTON-LINED NEST OF TURRET-SPIDER. rience and readily adapted herself to it. It is impossi- ble to think that she ever before had knowledge of cotton and its uses for wadding. Her first purpose was evidently to remove the material from her burrow ; but by the contact of her highly sensitive feet and mouth organs with the soft fabric the suggestion was raised that it might be utilized for lining her nest instead of silk. Or perhaps we may say that the sensation produced by handling the soft cotton started a train of associations that led the animal to deal with a substance quite foreign to her, precisely as she habitually deals with the silk which she secretes. Whether the two theories do not amount to the same in the end is a point which I 134 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. will not attempt to decide. We are verging upon the deep and somewhat strange waters of animal meta- physics, and perhaps had better not venture further." "At all events," said the Doctor, with some warmth, as though he were beating down an old adversary in his own thought, "I will never again say that a spider doesn't think ! Here certainly is an order of mentalism which seems to differ from human thinking more in degree than in kind." In the meantime I plied the spade carefully, until at last the bottom of the tube was reached. " There she is I" cried the Doctor, who keenly watched the digging. A brown head emerged from a mass of dust-covered cotton, followed by the legs and body of a large spider. The body was an inch in length, but the eight long, ex- panded legs gave one the impression of greater size. The specimen was a female of a velvety brown color, marked with light gray along the back. "Yes, there she is," I responded; "this is one of my troglodytes ; and now you have seen for yourself that this pretty nest in my box was really made by a spider." " It is certainly true, although it passes all my notions of spider-craft. What is the use of this cave-nest ?" "I cannot answer very confidently. The deep bur- row is at least a winter home, and, no doubt, a good one, since the temperature within it is much higher than at the surface. Moreover, it affords protection against many enemies, from whom the animal finds INSECT TROGLODYTES. 135 ready refuge by running into its stronghold. The object of the chimney is less apparent. It probably serves as a watch-tower from which the keeper may observe the approach of her enemies and her prey. Her favorite position is a crouching posture on the summit of her turret, with legs drawn up and head peering over the edge as though on guard. A little elevation of this sort is a great temptation to grass- hoppers and other insects, who are prone to alight upon or crawl up it, and thus become easy victims to the vigilant tower-keeper. On the other hand, if anything approaches that threatens harm, the wary sentinel re- treats to the depths of her cavern. I suppose that the turret serves a further use in protecting the interior from being flooded by the water that gathers upon the surface after rain. ' ' " Have you any knowledge of the mode of building practiced by this little architect ?" " Yes, I have kept individuals in confinement and watched their habits, but the best account of their behavior has been given by my friend, Mrs. Mary Treat. When the burrow is about two inches deep the spider begins upon her tower. A stick is placed at the edge of the tube, and lashed down with a strong thread. Another is laid in similar position until the margin is surrounded by a four or five-sided foundation. The builder then descends to the bottom of her tube and brings up pellets of earth which she places atop, and on the inside of the sticks, pressing them down with her body as she passes around the circle. Then follow 136 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. other layers of sticks alternated with pellets of clay until the tower is raised sometimes as high as two and a half inches above the ground. The inner surface is smoothed and lined with silk, and the turret is complete. While excavating the burrow the bits of clay as they are bitten loose are compressed within the mandibles into small balls, carried to the top and shot off from the walls with sufficient force to carry them a foot distant." Our spider had now crawled out from beneath the dusty ruins of her home, and sat motionless upon a heap of dirt. The Doctor's eye caught sight of a spherical egg-sac as large as a grape which was lashed to the spinning-tubes at the end of the abdomen, and an explanation was asked. u This species, like most of her family, carries her cradle, as you see. She rarely, if ever, abandons it, and will give up her life in its defence with the utmost abandon. For at least two months she has dragged that silken ball around with her, while the tiny eggs first placed within it have grown until they are now just ready to burst forth as baby spiderlings. If we capture this mother, and place her in a jar, we shall, in a few days, see a transformation. The egg-sac will have opened, a brood of a hundred or more younglings will have issued forth, and have swarmed upon their mother, hanging in a close cluster upon her abdomen, which will be quite hidden by the wriggling mass of wee bodies and legs. The mother will, of course, seem greatly enlarged by this addition, and will present the appearance of a horrible, hairy, nondescript monster. INSECT TROGLODYTES. 137 FIG. 46. A MOTHER SPIDER AND HER BROOD. She may be seen thus hanging in her favorite posture upon the outer wall of her tower, her abdomen all a-quiver with the crowded life of her brood. " (Fig. 46.) "Dear me!" said the Doctor, laughing, " what a destiny that must be ! Surely, that is a progeny suf- ficient to satisfy the cravings of the most ^capacious mother-love. One might fancy that the Mother Goose rhymster had this spider matron in view in the famous nursery couplet : ' There was an Old Woman who lived in a shoe, And she had so many children she didn't know what to do.' " " The turret spider," I continued, "seems to know what to do with Tier children. During the first three weeks the little things are piled all over the head and back of the mother, often appearing to blind her. They INSECT TROGLODYTES. . 139 seem ambitious to reach the highest point, and jostle and crowd one another in their efforts to be at the top of the heap. This the mother patiently endures for a time, but when the younglings thicken too closely over her eyes she reaches up her forelegs, scrapes off an arm- ful and holds them straight in front of her as if discip- lining them by reproving looks. Soon she releases them by slowly opening her legs, whereupon the spider- lings quietly take their places around the edge of the tower, where they usually remain until the mother goes below, when they all follow. Upon her reappearance they are again mounted upon her back." " How do the little fellows keep their position so firmly?" asked the Doctor. "The body of the mother is covered with soft hairs to which her babies hold by their feet, or fasten them- selves by delicate threads spun from their spinnarets. When they are two weeks old they " molt " or cast their skin, a process which spiders undergo several times un- til they are quite mature. The molting of the young turret spiders is a curious sight. They stretch a line across the back of the mother's abdomen to which they fasten themselves. Then they begin to undress. The skin cracks all around the chest the cepholotorax which is held by the front edge alone ; next the abdo- men is freed, and then comes the struggle to free the legs. By dint of regular pullings, repeated at short intervals, the old skin is cast in fifteen minutes or more, and the spiderling appears undressed but quite ex- hausted. It lies limp, pallid and motionless for a little 140 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. while and then gradually resumes its activity. Some- times the mother's back will be covered with taut lines decorated with these cast-off molts, reminding one of the dainty pieces of a baby's toilet hung up to dry in the laundry." "How long does the mother keep her brood around her ?" asked the Doctor. " When the young are about three weeks old a few begin to leave the maternal care. They have been long enough 'tied to mother's apron string,' to quote a common saying that has quite as much fact as figure in it for our spiderlings. They climb up a grass stalk, then venture upon a higher weed or shrub, thence they reach the trunk of a tree, and, grown bolder now, climb out upon the branches. After another week the mother shows a disposition to send her brood adrift. The time for ' weaning ' has come, and occasionally a little one is reminded of this fact by being tossed away into the grass. A bright, warm autumn day follows, and then the entire brood, moved by the resistless instinct of migration, leave their mother without further ceremony, run here and there upon plants and trees, or are dis- tributed over the vicinity by aeronautic flight, that strange habit so strongly analogous to ballooning as practiced by men. Later in the season or in the spring one will find a number of tiny burrows, the very coun- terpart of the mother's, in which the young have set up housekeeping, or cave-keeping rather, for themselves. As they grow in size the burrows are enlarged, until at last the babes have themselves become mothers and re- *LN81BGT TROGLODYTES. 141 FIG. 48. SEASIDE RESIDENCE OF TURRET SPIDER. peat among their own broods the maternal instincts that fostered their baby days." u There is an interesting variation in Arenicola's mode of building her turret which I have often ob- served along the New Jersey seaboard. Around the edge of the burrow, which is always driven straight downward by the spider, is heaped a foundation of tiny pebbles. These are usually white quartz, gathered from the surrounding sand. Upon this foundation the 142 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. tower is erected, and the varied material gives a pretty effect. " If one carefully dig the sand away from the burrow, having first taken the precaution to drop a twig within it (see Fig. 48), he may expose the interior. The sandy walls of the excavation appear to be kept in place by a slight secretion of silk which melts into the interstices of the sand, and ha* sufficient consistency to maintain it intact. Supported thus upon the twig the wall looks something like the leg of a wee lace stocking dusted over with sand. I have succeeded in exposing unbroken fully two inches of this interior coating; but it required the most dainty manipulation." "Truly," observed the Doctor, patting the ground with his cane meditatively the meanwhile, "the 'see- ing eye' is a rare gift. Now, I have wandered and loitered over those seashore sands many scores of times and never saw such an object as that. I think that my next vacation jaunt will bring me a fresh enjoyment in looking up these troglodytic friends of yours." CHAPTER IX. CAVE-DWELLING INSECTS. " HELLO, Harry ! The Doctor wants to see a bum- ble-bees' nest. Can you find one for him ?" Harry, who was crossing the field within easy call, ran eagerly toward us at this greeting, for the very name bumble-bee has a stirring influence upon a lad who knows anything of the country. If there were a " bum-bees' " nest anywhere in the neighborhood I knew that Harry might be trusted to point out the locality ; and accordingly the lad was soon at our side, his face aglow with a sense of importance and anticipated pleasure. The Doctor, however, war, taken somewhat by sur- prise. "My dear sir," lie cried, "I am not the least aware of any such want as you have expressed. On the contrary, I heartily excuse Harry from all service in the way of humble-bee hunting." " No, no, Doctor. You cannot escape so easily. You are committed to a search after the most ancient cave- dwellers, and it would be too bad to omit such distin- guished representatives as the humble-bee. Here is Harry quite ready to encourage your antiquarian tastes, and he would be disappointed now were you to turn back. Can you lead us to a bumble-bees' nest, Harry?" 143 144 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. " Yes, sir," answered the boy with alacrity. "There's one just beyond here in a big tussock on the edge of the swamp-grass. Joe and I found it las' July, when they was a-mowin'." u And resisted the temptation to clean it out ? That was a marvelous example of self-denial for a growing boy. How did it happen ?" " We did mean to fight it, and was jest gettin' ready when father 'lowed ef we 'd wait till frost come we 'd have the nest without gettin' stung. But that wasn't the reason zactly," added the lad. " I don't mind bee- stings much, though some folks 's mighty feard uv 'em. Here 's the nest, sir." Harry had well described the site, which is indeed a favorite one for these insects, who love to burrow in moist, low meadow land, near a great tuft of grass or tussock. Yet they give themselves a good deal of lati- tude in the choice of their subterranean homes, and often affect a grassy bank or lawn. Harry pushed aside the grass and showed us the entrance or gate to the cave a round hole half an inch in diameter. The droning buzz-z-zz I of a bee's wings warned us that one of the workers approached her nest. She circled around us cautiously and somewhat ex- citedly. There was a growing sharpness in the note of her hum which warned the Doctor to start back and pull the limp brim of his hat about his ears. Harry laughed, and sat still, simply withdrawing his hand from the opening. The bee gradually narrowed the circles of her flight, and after a few turns above the CA VE-D WELLING INSECTS. 145 FIG. 49. ENTRANCE TO THE HUMBLE-BEE'S CAVE. gate, as is her habit when home-coming, settled upon the ground and crept down the tube with a final buzz of satisfaction. She had thus unwittingly identified the site for us and confirmed Harry's report. (Fig. 49.) "Now, Doctor," I remarked, "here is an oppor- 146 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. tunity to prove your devotion to science. Our little cave-dwellers are wont to defend their household treasures with some acrimony." "My dear fellow," said the clergyman, U I pray you have me excused I I am too old and clumsy to engage in a battle with bumble-bees; If you stir up those mettlesome little beasts I shall certainly run away. Good morning !" " Hold, hold, Doctor ! I promise to spare you. But how shall we learn the mysteries of this cavern-home unless we take some risks in the work of exploration ? Really, I am anxious, on my own behalf, to see the interior of a bee's nest ; for I haven't seen one since my boyhood, and in those days there was rather too much excitement in the assault and defense to permit a care- ful study of the architecture." Here Harry spoke. "I know where they're two other nests inside the yard, back of the house. Pap was telling Joe and me t' other day that we 'd hav' tuh clean 'ern out anyhow, sence the folks 'ad come. So ef you 'd like to see a nest we '11 open one now for you, jest as leav's not." "Ah, that will do finely," I said; "so you see, Doctor, we shall get the spoils of victory without the perils of war." "True enough," was the reply. "But isn't that very much like the patriotism of the great showman, Artemas Ward, who exhibited such self-sacrificing willingness to have all his wife's relations go to war ?" "Perhaps it is," I answered, smiling, "but we may CAVE-DWELLING INSECTS. 147 trust our boys to come out of the conflict without any serious hurt. They are experienced hands at bee- nesting, I warrant. And now, if you '11 consent to spend the day with us, we '11 defer our cave-hunting until evening. What say you ?" The Doctor, who was quite prepared to humor my fancies and encourage me in these agreeable field pur- suits, readily consented. Therefore, dismissing Harry, we turned our steps homeward. As we walked over the moist, soft ground that skirts the edge of the Run, my friend noticed a ridge of loose, fresh earth heaved up along the low bank. " I see that a mole lias been at work here," he remarked. u Let us look a little more closely," I said. "The burrow which this ridge covers is certainly much like a mole's, but smaller than that animal makes. I suspect that we are on the trail of another of our insect cave dwellers the mole-cricket. Yes, it is so, and here be- neath this stone the burrow terminates." I turned over the stone, and exposed a simple opening into the earth. u Where is the cricket ? " asked the Doctor. u That is more easily asked than answered; some- where near the bottom of his cave at this hour of the day, too far down for us to reach. But if you will visit his burrow with me this evening, I may satisfy your curiosity. The mole-cricket is a nocturnal insect, and will not be caught near the door of his den until dusk. If one will then push a long grass stalk into the opening the irritated inhabitant will probably grasp it, 148 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. and grass and cricket may be drawn out together. Our American species is known as the Northern mole-cricket (Gryllotalpa borealis), although, in fact, it inhabits nearly the whole of the great plains, from Louisiana to Massachusetts. Sometimes the bulk of the soil beneath the sod and stones for a rod from the water's edge will be found completely honey- combed with their burrows. They seldom penetrate to a depth of more than six or eight inches, rarely to a foot beneath the surface. The burrows are about one- third of an inch in diameter, entirely irregular in direc- tion, and often terminate abruptly. When the ground is hard, the burrows are brought so near the surface as to raise long ridges of mould, which, when dry, fre- quently fall in and expose the interior." "Does the mole-cricket chirrup like the traditional hearth cricket? " u lt does chirrup, or rather creak, but its note is dif- ferent, resembling the distant sound of frogs, but some- what feebler. It is most frequently heard about dusk." " Why is the insect called a mole- cricket ?" " From the very fact, in part, that caused you to mis- take his burrow for a mole's. The general shape of the insect contributes to this likeness, as well as the strange development of the fore limbs, and the peculiar formation of the first pair of feet, which are not unlike the corresponding members of the mole. There are other points of resemblance which are most extraor- dinary. Like the mole, the mole-cricket passes nearly the whole of its life underground, digging out long pas- VAVK-BWELLING INtiEVTS. 149 FIG. 50. GRYLLOTALPA LONGIPENNIS THE MOLE CRICKET ITS CAVE AND EGGS. sages by means of its spade-like limbs, and traversing them in search of prey. Like the mole, it is fierce and quarrelsome, is ready to fight with its own kind, and, if victorious, always tears its vanquished opponent to pieces. Like the mole, it is exceedingly voracious, and if confined without food with several of its own species, the strongest will devour the weakest. We may close the analogy by saying that, like the mole, jt is useful enough in the fields, where its tunnels form a kind of subsoil drainage, but is equally destructive in the gar- den among young plants and flowers, upon whose roots it feeds. The European species (Gryllotalpa vulgaris) is often quite a pest, but our American species has not yet 150 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. developed such destructive habits, perhaps from lack of opportunity." "Well, well," cried the Doctor, "I quite join you in declaring this a most extraordinary creature. These are wonderful resemblances to exist in animals so widely separated as a cricket and a mole an insect and a vertebrate." "Perhaps," I suggested, thinking to draw the Doc- tor's theological fire, " the insect is a far-away ancestor of the vertebrate ? At least, an evolutionist might have no difficulty in accounting for such resemblances by some application of his theory." The Doctor glanced slily at me, .smiled, and answered : "Ah! you shall not disturb my equanimity so. Evo- lution is no theological lete noir to me. Not that I be- lieve it, at all ; on the contrary, I think it is yet an un- proved hypothesis. But, considered as a method oj creation simply, I am willing to leave it wholly in the hands of the naturalists and philosophers. Of course, that materialistic view of evolution, which dispenses with a Divine Creator as the First Cause of all things, has no place in my thought. That is not for a moment to be tolerated ; but, as for the rest, why should Chris- tian people disturb themselves ? Science has not yet said her last w r ord, by any means, and we can well afford to wait. The only absolute condition that I name is, that evolutionists shall still heartily join us in the opening sentence of the Creed : 'I believe in God, the Father Almighty, MAKER of Heaven and Earth.'' But, Mr. Mayfield, we are not driven of necessity to CAVE-DWELLING INSECTS. 151 evolutionism to account for such striking analogies in the animal kingdom as those between the mole and the mole-cricket." " Indeed ! What other theory can so well satisfy the demands of science ?" " The theory which lies at the root of all Monotheism, viz. : the origin of all things in One Divine Mind. The critic will trace with reasonable certainty the literary remains of an ancient author by the characteristics of style. Amid a number of claimants he will separate the genuine products from the apochryphal by those re- semblances which naturally and inevitably mark the productions of one mind. Now, why should I not rea- son in this wise of the One Great Over-Mind and the products of His thought ? Is it strange that, if all things are created by the Almighty God, there should be trace- able amongst them even through an infinite wealth and variety of wisdom, taste and skill, a manifest likeness ? Nay, it would be strange were it otherwise. Belief in the Unity of God the Creator leads logically to such analogies as we have been speaking of. Sometimes, as with our mole and cricket, the analogies lie close to the surface ; again, they run deeper, or are wholly hidden even from star-eyed science. But, in any case, I cannot see, from this stand-point, that the theory of evolution has any advantage over a theory of special creations. However, there is no need that the two theories should fall to blows. Let us have Patience and Charity. There is a deal too much dogmatism on both sides. Let us wait and look further. Truth is one and 152 TENANTS OP AN OLD FARM. of One. By and by we shall find the links that bind all natural facts into one chain, and that shall lead I never for a moment doubt it ! over whatever trail, by whatever method, straight to the Hand Divine/' The face of the good old man had kindled under the play of thought. He had brushed back his felt hat, as was his habit in animated conversation, until his broad brow was fully exposed. He walked on, erect and vigorous, punctuating his periods by sounding thumps upon the path with his gold-headed cane (another pecu- liar habit), keeping his eyes the while well aloft as though communing with the clouds. Gradually the glance fell until it reached the plane of my face, when, with a bright smile, the Doctor added : " There, you have tempted me to express sentiments that I rarely trouble others with. You may put it down as one more of the wonders of that extraordinary mole-cricket that he should thus lift the flood-gate of garrulity from an old man's lips." "My dear Doctor," I said, "I thank you from my heart for this expression of your views. It would be well for all concerned were such reasonable and chari- table opinions more commonly held and frequently uttered." "Now for the bumble-bees !" The farm-house awoke from the profound stillness which, according to the law of the Mistress, daily in' vited to a refreshing afternoon nap. Abby and the children were home from school, Hugh and Joe were in early from the field, and I summoned all hands to the CAVE-DWELLING INSECTS. 15b PIG. 51. QUEEN, MALE, WORKERS MINOR AND MAJOR OF HUMBLE-BEE (BOMBUS VIRGINICUS.) raid upon the bees. The nest was found upon the lawn, just beyond the clump of shade trees where the yard begins to roll downward toward the meadow and the spring-house run. One of the gates opened directly into the sod by a circular hole, rimmed around about by ex- cavated soil. It was prettily embowered beneath the tufts of orchard grass and sprigs of red clover, which indeed wholly concealed it. " How cunningly this is hidden !" exclaimed the Schoolma'am; "pray, how did you happen to find it, Harry ?" "I jest stumbled on it, ma'am. I stopped here o#e 154 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. day, and while moving my feet back and forth, firs' thing I knowed two or three bees came up out 'v the grass and began buzzin' 'round me. I knowed what that meant, stooped down and found this hole." " So ?" said the Schoolma'am. " The bees then were themselves the tell-tales and betrayed their own nest. They hadn't imbibed the peaceful principles of the old Friendly proprietor, or they might have escaped this impending doom. Heigh-ho!" " Yery likely, Miss Abby. But we can moralize by and by. Where 's your other nest* Harry ?" It was pointed out at the edge of an uncovered hot- bed which had been set into the bank about eight feet from the pretty gate which we had just examined and admired. A hole as big as one's fist penetrated the bank at the side of the bed-frame, into which several bees entered while we looked. The first opening was evidently the natural architecture of the bees, but this seemed to be the burrow of a mole which had been utilized by the insects. We decided to begin operations at the first gate. The party gathered around at various distances, regulated by the various degrees of respect entertained for the acculeate ability of the bees. "Hello, Joe, bring on the jug!" called Harry; " we 're all ready." " Jug ? What's that for ?" asked Abby. "Dear knows!" said the Mistress; "but the boys have been exploring the premises for a black jug it must be a black one, they said, or it wouldn't answer," CAVE-DWELLING INSECTS. 155 The lads had evidently succeeded in their search, for Joe appeared, carrying a black jug, half filled with water. He laid it on its side, with the mouth close to the gate. " All right !" he said. " Go ahead now. I warrant the bees won't hurt us very much." I thrust a tuft of cotton into the opening, and then cut out the sod around, thus preserving intact the natu- ral gate to the nest. When this was removed, and the gallery beneath uncovered, the mystery of Joe's jug was immediately explained. One after another a troop of yellow-backed bees issued forth, Inounted on wing with angry whirr, coursed a few narrow circles, then dived into the open mouth of the jug, where they were immersed in the contents. "Oh, Joe," exclaimed Abby, "this is a base mode of warfare. It equals the wickedness of our white an- cestors, who have literally exterminated the wild aborigines by the enticements of the jug. Fie ! lie ! Why don't you fight them like a man ?" (Fig. 52.) " Hugh Bond declared these bees trespassers," cried the Mistress from the safe shelter of a neighboring pine tree, "and I have heard him affirm that all trespassers ought to be 'jugged.' Don't mind what Miss Abby says, Joe." "Alas!" said the Doctor, also inclined to draw a moral from the novel proceeding, " how often is Indus- try, symbolized by the busy bee, utterly wrecked, and its fruits desolated by the perfidious habit of which the 'jug ' is the emblem !" 156 CAVE-DWELLING INSECTS. 157 "Doctor, Doctor !" called the Mistress, "how dare you ? That 's my vinegar jug I" "Pardon, madam," said the Dominie, "I meant no harm ; but I perceive that it is true, as our old writing- copy affirmed, ' Comparisons are odious.' " In the meantime, quite unmolested by the bees, we had followed the underground gallery, which soon widened into what was evidently the burrow of a mole. It led in a zigzag course toward the hot-bed frame. "Why, Harry," I said, "your two nests will turn out to be one, I think." So it proved. After tracing the burrow for a dis- tance of five feet, we came upon the nest. It lay in a cavity seven or eight inches in diameter, the floor of which was eighteen inches from the surface. As the yellow cells of the bumble-bees showed amid the torn shreds of their gray mattress of curled hay, the boys cried out : "Here it is! Here it is !" The Mistress left the shelter of her tree, with head wrapped in a scarf; the Doctor pulled his hat-brims around his ears ; Julia threw up her check apron until it wholly enveloped her head ; Abby wore her hat, and had twisted a kerchief around her neck. What they saw through the broken wall of the cave was a round bundle of dry chopped grass, about the bigness of one's head, lying on the floor, sprinkled with the yellow soil fallen from our digging. " Look out now I" Half a dozen bees rose from the pulverized ruins of 158 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. their home ; shook oft' the dust from their wings, and darted toward the group of curious observers There were screams and a quick dispersion. The Mistress and Jenny ran away without ceremony. Abby took a step or two backward, and then stood her ground, tak- ing the precaution, however, to clasp her skirts tightly, while her head rapidly oscillated in the vain endeavor to follow the insects' flight. The Doctor retreated with some show of dignity, as became his cloth, but hugged his cheeks tightly with his soft hat. Unluckily for him, black seems to affect a humble-bee as red does a bull ; and several of the irate workers, attracted by the clerical sable, charged straight upon the dominie. This was too much, even for his dignity; so, standing no further ceremony, lie turned and fled, holding his hat down with one hand, and with the other wildly beat- ing a handkerchief about his face. The scene was laughable enough, but the boys ran to the rescue. The bees abandoned the Doctor and fell upon them, but were soon beaten down by the paddles with which they were armed. The danger was over, and the party returned with much merriment to the cave. The nest was taken out, laid upon a cloth, and the swathing of curled hay removed. This exposed a spherical cluster of oval- shaped cells about four inches in diameter. The cells were of various sizes ; the largest not more than three- fourths of an inch long and one-half inch thick. They were made of thin yellow wax covered with brown blotches, and were so tightly fastened to one another CAVE-DWELLING INSECTS. 159 FIG. 53. CAVE AND CELL-NEST OF HUMBLE-BEES. by wax cement that they were separated with difficulty. Some of the cells were open ; most of them were closed. Of the latter some were filled with a number of small yellowish-white grubs of various sizes ; others contained but one grub each ; a large white one, which was doubtless a young princess in training for future queen- ship. 160 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. Here and there was a cell filled with yellow wax ; and there were several small clusters of dirty gray cells filled with honey. "Is that all there is of the nest?" asked Abby. Eeally, I am disappointed. This doesn't compare with the honey-bee's comb for beauty of structure." " This is all ; certainly the architecture cannot com- pare with that of the honey-bee, but there is much to admire in it after all. The humble-bee is not a child of civilization, and its ruder craft is very well adapted to its wilder life." u Look at those cunning little bees," said the Mis- tress, "crawling over the cells. I suppose they are lately hatched and half-grown, and they don't seem to shun you at all ! why is that ?" u You forget," I answered, "that there is no such thing as a half-grown bee except in the larval or grub condition. The larvse feed enormously, but when they pass into the pupal state and transform, they come out into the imago or perfect insect, full grown. There is no increase in stature after that. These white- headed forms which you have called ' half-grown ' are the small workers or minors. These, a size or two larger, are the male bees or drones. There is nothing very courageous in handling them, for they are stingless. Nature has left them absolutely without means of of- fense and defense." " Look at them !" cried Abby, indignantly. " They are crawling around and around over the broken cells lapping up the honey ! Stingless, hey ? Lazy, greedy CAVE-DWELLING INSECTS, 161 FIG. 54. THE DUDE OF THE BEEHIVE POOR DRONE I drones ! See, too, how bright, clean and pretty they look a sort of apiarian ' dude,' I do declare I" " Come, come, Miss Abby," said the Doctor. " Every- thing after its kind, you know. Nature makes no mis- takes even in the creation of drones. CHAPTER X. THE HISTORY OF A HUMBLE-BEE. "I WONDER if we have killed the queen-bee ? Ah, no ! here she is, burrowed in the grass under the cells." Disturbed by my intruding finger the royal lady issued from her retreat, and began promenading the top of the cells with restless steps. She was at least three times as large as the nurse-bees, being fully an inch and a quarter long. She* was an object of great interest to all our party, and as she at once set to work, quite oblivious of our presence, to straighten out the damage done to the cells, she received numerous com- pliments whose edge was greatly sharpened against the disparaging contrast with the unfortunate drones. "We are fortunate in possessing the queen," I re- marked. " We can now hive our colony and observe the bees' habits more closely." u Couldn't you have done that without the queen ?" asked Abby. "The colony might have kept together for a little while united in care of the grubs ; but the queen seems to be the bond of union with these insects. The whole life of the family centers upon the rearing and care of the young, to which duties the queen-mother is very necessary. Besides, I fancy that her experience, 162 THE HISTORY Of 1 A HUMBLE-BEE. 163 energy and aid are important factors in leadership and labor for the mechanical duties of the family, such as excavating and upholstering the cave and building the cells. But you shall have a chance to observe these matters for yourselves presently." A rough hive was soon made as follows : One side of a small packing-box was filled with loose sods cut out in digging for the nest ; the other side was partly filled with soil, on which the cluster of cells was laid in the midst of its swathing of curled hay. A large pane of glass was laid atop of this, leaving openings for the bees to escape into the air. The hive was placed near the original site of the nest, and we stationed ourselves close by to watch. As the afternoon was now well ad- vanced some of the worker bees were coming home. They were utterly confused at not finding the gate of their nest, flew round and round, settled here and there in vain search and rose again to resume their restless circles. Not one entered the box until I finally re- moved the glass. In a few minutes thereafter half a dozen large workers, with the little bags upon their legs laden with yellow pollen, dropped into the nest and settled down beneath the cells without any sign appar- ent to us of excitement or surprise. Meanwhile, however, the queen was laboring with vast energy. She seized bits and bunches of the upholstery in her mandibles, and pulled and pushed with her feet with the intention of burying the cells. Small workers, nurses or "minor workers," about half the size of the queen, who differed from the major workers in size, 164 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. being at least one-third smaller, followed the lead of the queen. There were few of them left, but they worked energetically. Then the big workers caught the infection. With the pollen still clinging to their legs, they laid heartily hold of the upholstery and dragged away along with the rest. They burrowed under the mass, and worked from beneath, pushing up the pliable fibres, pulling and tugging, scratching and kicking, the whole heap all the while gradually shifting toward and gathering around the cells. " Look at that bee !" said Abby. " What is it doing now ?" A large worker had climbed upon the fresh cut edge of the sods that filled one side of the box. It seized bits of soil with its jaws and cast down pellets from the slope ; it grasped the fine rootlets that everywhere in- terlaced the sod and bit at them with great fury. " What can the creature mean ? Is it insane with despair over the ruin of its home ? Look ! there goes another one. It, too, has been seized with the rabies." A second bee had mounted the sod wall, and seizing upon the soil, cut out pellets with its mandibles until its head was buried. In went the short fore-feet, with which the insect dug like a dog in a rabbit-burrow. I took out my watch to time the insect miner, and in less than two minutes it had buried its entire body in the hole. (Fig. 55.) "Dear me!" exclaimed the Mistress. "There is energy for you ! That is certainly mining extraordinary. A Lehigh coal-digger or a Lcadville silver-miner might THE II FS TOBY OF A HUMBLE-BEE. 165 FIG. 55. HUMBLE-BEE UPHOLSTERY WORKER BURROWING FOB ROOTLETS, AND QUEEN COVERING HER NEST. FROM NATURE. well envy such force and skill as these. What a pity it should be so ill employed, for this work seems utterly without purpose ; is it so ?" " Wait a while, " I answered. "Patience and watch- fulness solve many mysteries in the behavior of nature. I dare say we shall by-and-by find some reasonable issue to this work." So it proved; for before the evening ended the mystery was disclosed. We discovered that the object of the bees was the garnering of the fine roots running through the sod. These were pulled out in quantities, raked down the slope by the hind feet, and added to the mass of upholstery. Next morning when I visited my hive I found the cells quite covered j the summit of the 166 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. conical moimdlet thus formed was composed of fine fibres of the excavated rootlets, while the edges of the sod were stripped of the same. Cells, larvse, drones and queen were quite out of sight, buried and domiciled within the grassy mattress that bunched out above them. Here and there workers would push out their black heads from the mound, like boys playing hide-and- seek in a hay-mow, and pull them back again. Others would slowly scramble forth and busy themselves at tucking up the tufts of upholstery, or if my approach had been ungentle, would rise like alarmed sentinels and hum around the miniature hay-cock that held the treasures of their home. At several places in the mound the openings through which these bees came were well nigh formed into regular tubular gates by the compact- ing of the fibre. ''Come," said the Doctor, as we sat on the porch after tea, enjoying the soft autumn evening, "we ought to round out our bee-hunting with the story of how a nest is founded. What say you, Mr. May field ?" U I am quite at your service, and the story is not long, though somewhat curious. At the end of fall nearly all the humble-bees die. The males invariably perish, but one or two of the females or young queens survive, and pass the winter in a state of hibernation. In early spring the queen awakes from her winter's sleep beneath the moss or leaves, or in deserted nests, or sheltered spots, such as hollow trees or hay-stacks. " She may then be seen prowling above the ground, Settling here and there, and flying off again with a THE HISTORY OF A HUMBLE-BEE. 167 FIG. 56. MATTRASS-MAKING. " TUCKING UP THE TUFTS OF UPHOLSTERY." monotonous, steady hum. Her secretiveness at this time is immensely developed, and the slightest suspicion of being watched will send her far off with an eager, angry flight. She will never dig an inch of soil as long as she sees any suspicious object, and will often make her way under a tuft of herbage, and remain there concealed until she fancies that danger has passed. "Her resting place is frequently selected in the abandoned nest of a field mouse ; sometimes beneath an old stump; sometimes, as with our nest, she sinks a tube directly into the sod, and avails herself of the burrow of a mole, either before or after, to secure entrance and exit to and from the cave which she digs. 168 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. Immediately she collects a small amount of pollen mixed with honey, and in this deposits from seven to fourteen eggs, gradually adding to the pollen mass until the first brood is hatched. "She does not wait for one brood to be hatched before laying the eggs for a second. The eggs are laid in con- tact with each other, in one cavity of the mass of pollen with a part of which they are slightly covered. As soon as the larvae are capable of motion and commence feeding they eat the pollen, by which they are sur- rounded, and, gradually separating, push their way in various directions. Eating as they move, and increas- ing in size quite rapidly, they soon make large cavities in the pollen mass. When they have attained their full size they spin a silken wall about them, which is covered by the old bees (after the first brood has matured) with a thin layer of wax, which soon becomes hard, forming the cells which we saw. The larvae now gradually attain the pupa stage, and remain inactive until their development. They then cut their way out, and are ready to assume their several duties and stations as workers, males or queens. As the colony grows the nest is rapidly enlarged, until in the early fall it has grown to the size which we saw. " In which estate." suggested Abby, " they are ready for the final and chief end of beehood to yield a mo- mentary pleasure to a destructive boy armed with jugs, paddles and wisps of hay." " Or," I added, " to gratify the curiosity of a raiding naturalist and his friends," THE HIST Oil Y OF A HUMBLE-BEE. 169 " Well answered, Miss Abby," said the Doctor, "for you and I are particeps criminis with the boys and the naturalist, and are estopped from all complaint. Why is it that the humble-bee is such an Ishmaelite among the insects ?" " But is he an Ishmaelite?" I responded. "He is doubtless an Adullamite a cave-dweller and a sort of outlaw ; but while every man's hand appears to be against him, I cannot concede that his hand is against every man. He is a peaceful, well-nigh harmless fel- low, and would do little damage were he let alone. When the scythe or mowing-machine rushes over his nest in the meadow-grass at hay-harvest, he makes a good deal of fuss, of course as who would not under like circumstances ? Sometimes he inflicts a sting ; but these are not crimes sufficient to call down the univer- sal wrath of man. As for the few cells of honey in his nest, they alone would scarcely tempt even boyhood to the onset. It's a case of persecution, and I speak a good word for our wild friends the Indians of the bee race. I am not even sure that the humble-bee is not belied as to its stinging propensity. At least I have at various times sat down by a nest, quietly thrust in my naked hand, removed the mattress and examined the interior at my leisure. The bees bustled out and buzzed around, but I sat perfectly still and received no harm." " Has the humble-bee any natural enemies ?" asked the Doctor. " Thank you for the suggestion Yes ! There is one, at least, whom I am glad to classify with its human 170 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. foes the skunk or pole-cat. It is not a very goodly fellowship, certainly, but that is the fact, boys and pole-cats are fellow-soldiers in their raids upon the humble-bee. The skunk hunts the nests, and tears them up for the sake of the larvae particularly, of which it is very fond. The nests of yellow-jackets, which are also made on the ground, are raided in the same way by this animal." "Why don't the bees sting 'em off?" asked Harry. " Doubtless, they do try ; but the assaults are usually by night when the insects are a little dazed, and before they can recover from their surprise the mischief is done. Besides, the fur jacket of the beast is a good pro- tection against so short a sword as a bee-sting." "I should think," said Abby, "that the mere presence of such an ill-odored animal would suffice to disperse such respectable creatures as bees. Faugh !" "But then," I answered, joining in the laugh which followed the Schoolma'am's closing interjection, "you must remember that the skunk is not always mal- odorous. Like some unsavory human kind, of whom I wot, it is by no means ill-looking, and knows how to conceal its obnoxious traits. The powerful perfume which it carries in the little pouch which nature has provided for that purpose, and which is the animal's weapon of defence, would not be used against such in- significant assailants 0,s bees. That is used for more formidable enemies, as man and dogs. Besides, I have known very fastidious gentlewomen who could pat and fondle the skunk's soft coat with great pleasure." TEE HISTORY OF A HUMBLE-BEE. 171 " Oh, Mr. May field !" cried Abby, "You are surely joking with us ! How could they bear " "Come, come, my dear." interposed the Mistress, who at once saw the point of my quizzing, "you quite forget that the fur of our unsavory friend has been lately much used for ladies' muffs." "I cry quarter!" exclaimed Abby, when the merri- ment had subsided, "I was fairly trapped. And now, as I am especially interested in changing the subject, please tell me how the skunk manages to get at the bees ? If the nests are all hidden like this one just dug out by us, with narrow approaches several feet under ground, it would be a heavy task to burrow to them." "I think I kin answer that question," Hugh res- ponded, " fer down in the meadows, and in the tussocks along the stream, you commonly find 'em right on top uv the groun', in an old mouse nest, or a little hol- low half's big as one's head. They build ther combs in these hollows, and cover 'em with ther little straw heaps, an' seem to git along right well. Uv course, the grass shelters 'em a good 'eal. I never seed a nest like this un in the yard, down ther. I think, however, them 's a differt sort o' bees from these uns, ain't they ? They 'pear bigger and yallerer." "You have observed quite accurately, Hugh. My friend, Mr. Ezra T. Cresson, tells me that there are more than forty species of humble-bee known to inhabit North America. I have heard countrymen call the species of which you speak the swamp-bee ; its scientific 172 THE HISTORY OF A HUMBLE-BEE. 173 name is probably Bombus separatus, Cresson. The spe- cies which we have been observing is Bombus vir- ginicus. " While speaking of the enemies of the bees, we must not forget to mention the field-mice, who, although they yield nesting material to their wild insect friends, make ample reprisals by destroying the honeycombs. The late Mr. Darwin made a curious allusion to this fact in his book on the "Origin of Species.' 1 We may infer, he says, as highly probable, that were the whole genus of humble-bees to become extinct or very rare in Eng- land, the heart's-ease and red clover (which they fertil- ize by carrying pollen from flower to flower), would become very rare or wholly disappear. The number of humble-bees in any district depends in a great degree on the number of field mice which destroy their combs and nests; and Colonel Newman, who has long at- tended to the habits of humble-bees, believes that more than two-thirds of them are thus destroyed all over England. Now, the number of mice is largely de- pendent, as every one knows, on the number of cats. Colonel Newman says that near villages and small towns he has found the nests of humble-bees more numerous than elsewhere a fact which he attributes to the number of cats that destroy the mice. Hence it is quite credible that the presence of a feline animal in large numbers in a district might determine, through the intervention first of mice and then of bees, the fre- quency of certain flowers in a district ! I do not know whether the above curious chain of facts holds equally 174 TENANTS OF AN OLD FAltM. good in America as in England ; but it probably obtains to some extent, at least." "Blessings on poor Tabby !" exclaimed the Mistress, stroking the sleek fur of the fine Maltese cat that lay purring in her lap. "Here is another to add to the list of your domestic virtues we owe to you our beautiful red clover fields !" " Yes," said Abby ; "but don't forget to dispense a little gratitude to the poor humble-bee, who is the principal benefactor, after all. I shall tell these strange news to my farmer lads, and try to persuade them against persecuting so useful a friend. But the average schoolboy, I fear, is proof against persuasion when a humble-bee's nest is in question," "Perhaps," I suggested, "schoolboys are natural checks upon the undue increase of the insects, just as cats are upon mice. But let us take up again the con- struction of the bee's nest, whose description we had not quite completed. Hugh spoke about meadow bees weathering the season very well without any covering but the straw-heap and the overhanging herbage. There is something more than this. Do you notice in the nest which we excavated that a slight shell or casing at the right side of the cells was formed be- tween the cells and the outside upholstery ? This is made by spreading a coating of wax on the inside of the mat, which hardens around the straws and forms about the cells a waterproof envelope. The mattress may be removed from this without breaking it, leaving the cells quite inclosed by it. This is doubtless a valu- FIG. 58. CURTAIN OP WAX-WORKERS (AFTER RENNIE.) 175 176 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. able protection against the rain." (See Fig. 53, chap, ix.) " Where do the bees get this wax ?" asked Joe. "A proper question, certainly ; I wonder it has not been asked before. The bee secretes the wax from its own body. On the under side of the abdomen are six little flaps, not unlike pockets, the covers of which can be easily raised with a pin. Under these flaps is secreted the wax, which is produced in tiny scales or plates, and may be seen projecting from the flaps like little half- moon-shaped white lines. A scale of wax is drawn out from the abdominal ring by pincers fixed at the joint of one of the hind pair of legs, and is carried to the mouth. It is there worked up by the mandibles and tongue, and undergoes some important change. When secreting the wax the wax-workers of the honey-bees, at least, have a curious habit of hanging in a chain-like cluster, holding fast one another's legs. This is called a curtain. Plenty of food, quiet and warmth are necessary for the production of wax, and as it is secreted very slowly, it is extremely valuable and used with great economy. How wax is formed within the body of the bee I cannot explain any more than I can tell how the liquid silk is produced within the spider's silk glands. The Author of Nature has endowed these creatures with such gifts and the power to use them I go no further. But it is a wonderful substance ; soft enough, when warm, to be kneaded and spread like mortar, and hard enough when cool to bear the weight of brood THE HISTORY OF A HVMBLE-BEE. 177 and honey. Moreover, it is of a texture so close that the honey 'cannot soak through the delicate walls of the cells, which are perfect, natural honey-pots. " Tell me something," said the Mistress, " of the way in which bees gather honey. I have often seen them humming around and diving into flowers, but they move so rapidly that I could never fairly observe their behavior." " It is done in this way : the bee has at the end of its face a long, hair-clad pro- boscis or tongue which it inserts into the recesses of flowers, brushes out the nectar, passes the laden tongue through its jaws, (Fig. 59) scrapes off the sweet liquid and swallows it. Just within the ab- domen the sesophagus ex- pands into a little sac called the crop or 'honey bag,' and into this the nectar is passed. If the bee wants to eat, it opens a minute valve \vhich divides the crop from the stomach, which is just beyond it, and lets out enough to satisfy its hunger. As long as the valve is closed the nectar ac- cumulates, and when the crop is filled the bee flies home and regurgitates the collected sweets into one of the FIG. 59. FACE OF HUMBLE- BEE, SHOWING TONGUE, (FROM NATURE.) 178 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. honey cells. The liquid enters the crop as nectar ; it comes out honey by what process is a secret, even to the bee !" " I don't quite understand that," said Harry. u Then let me try to illustrate." I took from the table a drop tube or pipette, such as is commonly used by apothecaries and microscopists. It is simply a glass tube narrowed at one end and inserted into an india- rubber bulb. Pressing the bulb between finger and thumb, I plunged the tip into a tumbler of water, which as the pressure was removed rushed in and filled the pipe. "Observe now what happens," I said, holding aloft the charged pipette ; " when I press upon this bulb every movement of my thumb and finger forces a drop of the liquid to gather at the nozzle of the pipette and finally to drip away. Do you understand how that happens, Harry?" "Yes, sir, I think I do," rejoined the lad. "Wen you sqeezes agin' the rubber bulb it presses on the air inside, and that pushes agin the water in the pipe and forces it out of the nozzle." " That's quite plain ; is it ?" "Yes, sir ; quite." " Very well, then ; let us suppose that this nozzle is the bee's mouth ; this glass tube the bee's oesophagus, through which the nectar passes into this rubber bulb, which we will call, if you please, the honey-crop. Now our bee has a full crop and wants to get it emptied into the honey-cell. All she has to do is to squeeze the crop tightly enough." THE HISTORY OF A HUMBLE-BEE. 179 FIG. 60. MRS. BUMBLE FILLS THE HONEY JARS. "Does she do it with her paws?" ex- claimed the lad, his face all aglow with the interest and excitement of his new thoughts. "Not quite that, Harry," I replied, smiling; "but that 's the principle. Instead of squeezing the crop with her hands, she causes the muscles which surround it to contract, and that presses tightly upon it. Just as my hand is opened and shut at once by certain muscles that expand and contract thus ! so the bee's crop is pushed together and filled out again by the muscles that surround it. Now, suppose my fingers to represent those muscles ; they tighten upon the crop so ! (squeez- ing the bulb), and then what happens ?" 180 TENANTS Of AN OLD FARM. " I see it I" exclaimed Harry. " The honey is squeezed into the tube, and up, up, till it comes out uv the noz the mouth, I mean just like the water-drops. I understand, truly !" u Does all honey go through that process down the bee's throat and up again ?" asked Abby. " All genuine honey does. But over-fastidious people can find plenty of the counterfeit article. Though I am no wise certain that they will find anything that goes through a process of manufacture as thoroughly clean and wholesome as the original." "We have had so many wonders this evening," said the Doctor, "that I am doubtful if we can in- wardly digest much more ; but there is one point further that I would like you to clear up for me. What is the bee-basket in which the pollen is carried home ?" FIG. 61. THE BEE BASKET (FROM NATURE.) "I'd like to know 'bout that myself," said Hugh. "I've often heerd bee-raisers talkin' uv the 'basket,' and one day tried to study it out from some dead bees. THE HISTORY OF A HUMBLE-BEE. 181 But nary basket could I see nuther on head ur tail ur back. That 's allus been a myste'y to me." " Very well, then, my good fellow, I promise that you shall understand it this time. You all remember that I called your attention to the fact that some of the humble-bees that came in when we were hiving our captured nest had large balls of flower dust or pol- len on their hind-legs." " Yes, we remember that," answered Abby. u Some of them were yel- low, others whitish and gray. Was that pollen ?" " That was pollen, and a brown, resinous substance called propolis, more tena- cious and extensible than wax, and well adapted for cementing and varnishing. Here are several dead bees which I will pass around the circle. Now let us turn to our manilla 'black-board' on the table while I draw, much enlarged, one of those hind-legs. The shin or middle portion, you see, is flat, of a triangular shape, is smooth, shining and slightly hollowed on the outer side. This horn-like substance forms the FIG. 62. HIND LEG OF A WORKING HUMBLE-BEE, TO SHOW THE BASKET. (FROM NATURE.) 182 THE HISTORY OF A HUMBLE-BEE. 183 bottom of the basket. Around the edges of this plate are placed rows of strong, thickly-set, long bristles, which curve inward. These are the walls of the basket, and there ! we have the structure quite com- plete. Now take this pocket-lens and tell me if you see the basket upon those specimens of bees." The Mistress and Abby, the Doctor and Hugh all succeeded in making out the much talked of receptacle, and the rest were contented with the rough drawing. " But how does the bee get her materials into her bas- ket ?" asked the Doctor. "Ah, I was prepared to hear that. The material is collected gradually with the mandibles, from which the short fore-legs gather it. Hence it is passed backward to the middle-legs by a series of multiplied scrapings and twistings which I can't pretend to detail. In the same way it is sent back once more to the hind-leg, and is scraped and patted into the basket, where it is secured from falling out by the walls of bristles whose elasticity will even allow the load to be heaped beyond their points without letting it fall. When the busy harvester has gathered as much as her basket will conveniently hold, she flies away home and empties her load by a reversal of the process which filled it. In this work, however, she is often aided by her fellow-workers." "I believe," said the Doctor, " that I better under- stand now the force of the verse concerning the bee which has crept into the Septuagint version of Proverbs, sixth chapter and eighth verse. This version was made from the Hebrew for the Greek-speaking Jews of Alex- 184 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. andria, but the verse has not been found, I believe, in the original text. It runs thus: "Go to the bee and learn how diligent she is and what a noble work she produces, whose labors kings and private men use for their health ; she is desired and honored by all, and though weak in strength, yet since she values wisdom, she prevails." I suppose some bee-loving rabbi must have felt jealous of the prominence given to the ant by the Wise King and added a comment which future gen- erations felt bound to accept as good Scripture. At all events, it is good sense." "And yet," remarked Abby, "when a man lacks wisdom, is a bit hair-brained and visionary, we say that he has a ' bee in his bonnet.' How is that ?" "It is inconsistent enough," replied the Doctor; " but our Scotch friends are responsible for the proverb. I suppose it is a case of giving one a character from a single quality, and that by no means truly characteris- tic. Certainly, I at least shall think of something more than mere 'buzzing' when I remember the bee." The full moon had now risen, and its silver light could be seen in the distance shimmering upon the broad Delaware and the Jersey coast beyond. The Doctor had declined our invitation to spend another night with us, and made ready to return to Marple. Followed bv cordial good-byes, the good man, with his old carry-all and chestnut-bay horse, drove away under the moonlight, and the farm-house settled down to rest. CHAPTEK XI. INSECT ENGINEERING BRIDGE BUILDING AND BALLOONING SPIDERS. OCTOBER is the golden month of the American calen- dar. There is an indescribable mellowness in the atmosphere, as though the year had centered all the luscious fruitage of her ripening upon this halcyon season. The air is warm, but crisp with ozone. At times the sky is clear as in midwinter ; again the land- scape is wrapped in a soft haze through which distant objects loom with indistinct outlines like the remem- bered objects of one's dream. All healthful life in Nature finds a joy in very being, none the less because there hangs upon all things a prophetic tone of coming dissolution. The melancholy days are not yet quite " come," but are coming, and are near. The leaves are adding to their summer green the first tints of russet, yellow, and scarlet that shall by-and-by enfold them in their dying glory. The insect-world is still full of life ; but already in many species motherhood has paid to posterity the last penalty of Nature, and in many others the reservoirs of life are running low. But the waning and the waxing of life go on together. Parents are dying, but children are gaining in vigor. Multitudes 185 186 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. have been seized by the strange instinct of migration, and are being swept by its resistless force into the cur- rents of a new and independent existence. And thereby hangs the tale which this chapter is in part to unfold. On such a morning as I have described Dan entered the kitchen precincts with a rueful face. " Wat's the matter ?" asked Sarah sharply. "You look like the final judgment had come. Is your ole woman dead, or 've ye lost your 'baccy pouch ?" " Dar's no 'casion for levity, Sairy Ann," said the old man solemnly. "T'ings 's bad nuff, and y '11 see it byne by." " Goody gracious me ! Do speak up, man, and let 's know the wust on 't at wanst ! Wat 's happened ?" " Wy sumfin mighty awful 's happen'd. I cl'aE to goodness dat Mars Mayfield's done gone cl'ar crazy !" Dan lowered his voice, and spoke in a husky sort of a growl which he doubtless meant for a whisper. "Crazy?" screamed Sarah. "Wat on airth " She stopped short in her sentence, for at that moment the Mistress' entered the room. She had heard the ominous word on Sarah's lips and saw the terrified look upon both countenances. Her face blanched, and she sank into a chair overcome by an indefinable dread of some unknown peril. Her thoughts had run directly to her husband, who an hour or more ago had gone into the fields. Many readers will sympathize with the Mis- tress, though none, perhaps, can give any better reason than she why such unreasonable anticipations of evil to INSECT ENGINEERING. 18? the best beloved should inevitably arise on occasions of sudden alarm. The Mistress is not a woman to give way long before an unseen trouble. In a moment she had rallied, and demanded the cause of the excitement which she had witnessed. Dan doffed his hat, thrust his great gaunt hands through his matted hair, and began a stammering ex- planation. u Wy w'y, you see, Miss Mayfiel', I war gwine froo de meadow while ago, and I sees Mars' Mayfiel' out dar standin' by de fence-pos'. He had 'is little spy- glass'n 'is 'an, and wur a-spyin' somethin' 'r odder. Jes den" The Mistress started to her feet. " Has he been hurt r Tell me !" "Hurt ? No, miss, not a' tall ; nuffin 'v the kin', I do shore you. 'Z I wur say in', jes den I seed Mm jump de fence like a wil' colt an' break off ober de meadow like mad. He ran back and forrud, zigzaggin' across de fiel' in de mos' cur'us way. Den he stopped stock still, and went back to de fence and spied at an- other pos', and off he goes ag'in like mad " The old man emphasized the last word, cast a pecu- liarly sad look toward the Mistress, and then went on, with the circumlocution which his tender heart had suggested : "Off he shoots agin, I say, jes like mad, and goes froo wunst more dem wild zigzaggin' motions. I stood 'n watched Mm a wMle, and then, clar to goodness, 188 TENANTS of 1 AN OLD FARM. Misses, I done got right sick a seein' poor Mars' May- fiel' tuk that a-way so cur'us like 's tho' he'd done loss 'is senses, and so I jes come straight home, and " "Oh, fudge!" The Mistress broke in abruptly upon Dan's story. Her face had undergone a strange transformation as the narrative proceeded. Its whiteness slowly flushed into crimson ; its litfes of anxiety gradu- ally relaxed into curves of mirthfulness. Then came another change tears mounted to the eyes, and, as they trickled out upon the cheeks, Dan had reached the climax of his story, and the good woman broke out into her hysterical cry of mingled anger, amusement and joy. Without another word she turned and left the kitchen, leaving Dan overwhelmed with amazement. " Lawh bress yer, honey!" he said at last. "De news 's been too much for her. It 's done turned her own head, too !" Sarah was not much clearer than Dan in her view of the situation ; but she saw, at least, that the old ser- vant had made some sort of a mistake. She, therefore, came to his relief in her usual sharp way. " There, Dan ! Go 'long, now, to your work. You've been makin' a fool 'v yorself agin', 's usual. An' w'at's wuss, you 've gi'en the Mistress a powerful bad skeer. Purty feller you are, makin' out that your betters is crazy ! I reckon you 're an old crank yourself, an' orter been sent to the 'sylum long ago. Go 'long, now, to your work !" The irate cook flourished her pan so vigorously that INSECT ENGINEERING. 189 Dan thought her advice was worth heeding, and walked off slowly, shaking his head, and muttering " 'Bout half de worl' is half cracked, anyhow, an' dat ole Sairy, de cook is de wuss one among 'em." This is the story that the Mistress had to tell when we had drawn up our chairs to the sitting-room table for the weekly conversation about our insect Tenants. The subject was Insect Engineering, and some of my field studies of the aeronautic flight of spiders, by way of preparation for our talk, had been the cause of Dan's alarm. "Well, Dan," I said, for the old man was at his chosen seat on the cricket by the inner door, and appeared to enjoy the Mistress's account of his blunder as much as the rest of us, "you 're not so much to blame after all. " I can easily think that the strange attitudes of an entomologist, while in hot pursuit of his favorite study, would appear to persons who know nothing of his tastes and habits like the wild behavior of a madman. Besides, it is not the first time that I have been thought a little unsound on account of my natural history studies. Years ago when I first began to follow my specialties with some zeal, our good Mistress there as she afterwards told me spent many days in anxiety, and passed many hours in tears over what she supposed a development of insanity. " Why, Mrs. Mayfield," exclaimed Abby," could you have been so foolish V" "It was even so," wife answered, "and the recollec- tion of that fact proved a great comfort to me this 19P INSECT ENGINEERING. 191 morning ; for it helped me to interpret the behavior that led Dan quite astray." "lam reminded," I remarked, "of an incident re- lated to me by Professor Hayden of the Geological Sur- vey. One day while engaged in geological studies on the great American plains, he found himself widely separated from his party, and started out in search of it. Presently, the outlines of human forms appeared upon the horizon, and thinking them to be his friends he turned his steps toward them. As he drew nearer he perceived that they were a band of Indians. Greatly alarmed, for there were hostile tribes in the vicinity, he turned and fled. But the Indians already had seen him. At best he was no match in speed for them, but he was now weighted down with specimens of various rocks and fossils, and was soon overtaken and surrounded. He was bidden to dismount, and immediately the savages, who had also dismounted, began to strip him of his personal possessions. Knife, hammer, watch, disap- peared. Then the red hands were plunged into his pockets and withdrawn full of stones ! Again and again this was repeated ; pockets, pouch, saddle-bags, all were emptied, and, as the pile of rocks grew upon the ground beside him, his plunderers broke into a loud laugh. Then they looked at him carefully, touched their fore- heads significantly, as much as to say "he is crazy," and with that strange reverence for the insane, which characterizes our American Indians, they respectfully returned to him all his goods, mounted their broncos and rode away. I suspect that the savages are noj; 192 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. the only persons who reason that one who can devote himself to collecting "rocks and bugs " is crazy. For my part, I have about concluded that I was much nearer perfect sanity in the days spent as a naturalist than than afterward, when breaking down my health by hard work in collecting a fortune." "But tell us," asked Abby, "what you were doing in the meadow when Dan saw you. I don't wonder, if his description is correct, that he did think you a little 'cur'us.'" "Dan's description," I replied, laughing, "was a very good one, from the standpoint of an outside observer. The explanation is this : I had stationed myself by the fence to watch the ' flying spiders ' as they are popularly called. This has been a golden day for the young balloonists, and they have been improving it finely. As I walked out this morning I saw long, white filaments of silk streaming from fence-posts, tall stalks of grass, clumps of weeds, shrubs, almost every elevated object in the fields. I knew by this token that the balloonists were abroad and busy. As I passed the Run I saw just at the point where it widens into the little pool an object of great beauty. It was a tiny and deli- cate, but perfect and quite strong suspension bridge." (Fig. 64.) "A bridge!" exclaimed Abby. "It is some of Harry's work, I warrant. He is the handiest boy in school with his jack-knife, and beats even our New England lads, which is saying a good deal." I smiled and glanced at Harry, whose face colored INSECT ENGINEERING. 193 under his partial teacher's . praise. "Well, my boy, what say you ? Was it your work ?" "No, sir ; .1 never I I've got a 'flutter wheel' up there by the riffles, but nary bridge. I dunno who did it at all." " I quite believe you, Harry. Let me show you how the bridge was made, and that will help us to find the architect." In lieu of a blackboard I had provided a package of wide Manilla wrapping-paper and crayons. These served admirably for the rude outline sketching, by which I hoped in future to make our conversations somewhat more interesting to a mixed company, such as ours. " Here is the run ; on this clump of cat-tails was fixed one of the anchorages ; on the opposite bank, a-top of this cluster of flags, was the other abutment. Here from side to side was stretched a foundation line,. and just below it another." "What sort of stuff were they made of?" asked Hugh Bond. "To be sure, I should have mentioned that before. They were silken lines. Between the two, near the middle point, was constructed a series of truss-like sup- ports, something like this." The family group had gathered about the table, and bent over, eagerly watching the movements of my pen- cil. Before I had finished the sketch two or three voices exclaimed in chorus : " A spider's web ?" 194 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. " Yes, the snare of an orb-weaving spider. That is the suspension bridge which attracted my attention this morning, and I certainly think it a very pretty and in- genious one. A little further down the stream where the bank rises higher and is crowned on either side with sumach and blackberry vines, another orb-weaver had stretched her cables, and when I first noticed her was running along one line toward the center. She hung, head downward, and moved one leg after another in a hand-over-hand sort of way. When she reached the middle point of the line, she began spinning a round web like this which I have drawn." u How did she git those lines across the run ?" asked Hugh ; " that puzzles me. She didn't swim across with it, I reckon ? Though I have seed spiders swim- min' or runnin' on the water." "Not this kind, Hugh. Our spider laid the main cables of her bridge in a quite different way. The fact is she proceeded much in the manner of Charles Ellet, the engineer who built the first suspension bridge over Niagara river in 1840. The first difficulty to be over- come was to get a string across the chasm. A reward of five dollars was offered for the first string landed on the opposite shore and this brought a host of kite-flyers to the scene. The kites fluttered like a flock of birds across the whirling flood and soon entangled on the bank beyond. The first string thus stretched, a wire was next drawn across, and heavier wires in succession fol- lowed until the great foundation cables were laid at length, and thence the weaving of the substantial wire INSECT ENGINEERING. 195 FIG. 65. KITING THE CATARACT. bridge became compara- tively easy." (Fig. 65.) " You don't mean to tell us that spiders really fly kites?" asked Abby rather doubtingly. " Well, it amounts about to that ; although, properly speaking, they fly cords instead of kites. As a rule, there is no object at the end of their lines which corre- sponds to the kite itself, although I have sometimes seen even that closely represented by broadened bits of silk, hammock-shaped ribbon, attached to the filaments spun out by orb-weavers when preparing for aeronautic flight. However, the principle upon which a spider stretches her bridge-lines across a stream, or practices ballooning, is precisely that upon which American boys and Chinese men fly their kites ; so that the engineer of 196 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. the Niagara bridge and the spider-engineer of the silken bridges over Townes' Kun operated upon the same prin- ciple." "But tell us how it was done," said Abby. "I haven't the most remote idea how such a creature can fly either a 'kite' or a 'string,' much less how it can go 'ballooning.' " " I will do so, and that brings me to the starting point of Dan's morning experience. When he saw me I was standing by a fence-post watching a small saltigrade spider mount into the air. Its head was toward the wind, its eight feet spread out in a circle, its abdomen turned in the direction of the wind and elevated about 45. From the little rosette of spinning mammals at the end of the abdomen issued several very delicate fila- ments which were caught by the breeze and floated upward to the length of several feet. The legs of the animal gradually bent backward and downward, and then pop ! with a quick vault the wee creature was off and away. (Fig. 66.) "I leaped the fence, followed at full speed, trying to keep my eyes upon the aeronaut, which, of course, at times compelled me to run back and forth, and at zig- zag, as Dan put it, over the meadow. This had to be repeated with a number of specimens ; but in the course of the morning I succeeded in confirming and complet- ing observations which I had made years ago." "But, tell us," Abby asked, "how the spiders got started in their flight over the meadow, and what that Jias to do with your suspension bridges ?" INSECT ENGINEERING. 197 PIG. 66. BALLOONING OR FLYING SPIDERS. " Pardon me. I had taken too much for granted, I see. The spider, clinging to the post, sets its spinning apparatus in operation ; the liquid silk, as it issues from silk glands through the many tiny tubes on the spin- nerets, is immediately hardened at contact with the air, is caught by the wind and drawn out into long threads. Presently enough thread is spun out to overcome by its 198 TENANTS Off AN OLD FARM. buoyancy the weight of a spider, precisely as the buoy- ancy of a balloon overcomes the weight of the aeronaut and his car, and permits them to ascend into and float upon the air. At that moment, which the spider re- cognizes by the upward traction of the threads, she leaps up and is carried off in the direction of the wind. Immediately after mounting she turns around, grasps her thread-balloon With her feet, spins out a little basket or mesh of connecting lines which her feet clasp, and then emits from her spinnerets another pencil of deli- cate threads. She now rides on a tiny net, hung back downward between the two long, floating filaments, and is carried before the wind 'where it listeth,' until the balloon strikes and entangles upon bush, tree, or other elevated object, when she dismounts and sets up housekeeping for herself." "Have the spiders any control of their own descent ?" asked Abby, "or are they wholly dependent upon the action of the wind ?" "I should have answered, before this morning, that they are entirely at the mercy of the wind. But I have now seen that which changes my opinion. One of the balloonists whom I carefully observed to-day, secured its own descent by gradually drawing in the floating lines until they gathered in a minute white pellet above the mandibles. As the lines shortened the buoyancy decreased, the weight of the spider yielded to gravitation, until gradually she was drawn to the ground and alighted on the grass. If this observation shall be confirmed as a truly typical one, we must concede INSECT ENGINEERING. 199 PIG. 67. BALLOONING SPIDER PREPARING TO ASCEND. that the little aranead produces, by lengthening htr lines, a result similar to that of the human aeronaut who throws out his ballast of sand ; and, by gathering in the lines, accomplishes what ballooning man performs when he pulls the valve and permits the gas to escape." u To return to our bridge. The orb weaver when 200 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. building a snare proceeds, in the main, after the manner of the ballooning saltigrade. She stations herself upon a leaf or branch, or top of a twig, opens her spinnerets and emits a thread which the wind takes up and carries out until it entangles on some adjacent object. At other times she drops from her perch, spinning after her a thread, to the end of which she hangs in a little meshed basket rapidly woven. While swinging in this position she emits her trial lines as before. " Now, let us suppose our orbweaver seated upon this tall cat-tail, seeking to make her web (Fig. 67). The wind blows straight across the Run, and carries out her thread. It catches upon the opposite clump of flags, a fact which the engineer at once perceives, and draws the line taut. She pulls upon it with her feet to test it, then ven- tures upon it, and rapidly runs across, dragging after her a second cord, which unites with and strengthens the first. " I chanced to be in New York when Earrington, the engineer, made the first voyage upon the initial cables of the Brooklyn bridge across the East River, and, upon invitation of a friend, went down to witness the transit. As I watched the bold fellow hung far aloft and moving above the sea waves beneath, I was so forcibly re- minded of this behavior of my spider friends which I have just been describing, that I could not forbear pointing out the likeness to my friend, a distinguished engineer, very much to his disgust (Eig. 68.) "The cable which the spider has thus formed is strengthened by several overlays, made in successive INSECT ENGINEERING. 201 FIG. bO. THE ORIGINAL BROOK- LINE BRIDGE. " ENGINEER ARACHNE MAKES THE FIRST CROSSING." trips back and forth, until it is strong enough to serve as a foundation cable. A second cable is stretched in a similar manner, and then the little architect proceeds to weave in her snare." " How long are those foundation lines ?" asked the Schoolma'am. ''That depends upon the direction of the wind and character of the site. If there are elevated objects 202 TENANTS OF AN OLD FAUM. quite near in the direct course of the threads the lines will soon entangle and be short ; but if there be a wide, open space before the lines they will stretch out for a goodly distance. Our Townes' Run bridge cables were not above ten feet long, but I have seen such lines twenty-five, thirty, and even some of forty feet in length stretched from tree to tree across a country road." "I mind seem' one, sir," said Hugh," right here on the old farm much longer than them. I was crossin' the yard a leetle arter sun-up w'en I seed suthin' glintin' in the air like a fine wire. It stretched from a bush, aside the kerriage-entrance, across the track. I didn't see the ends of the thing, just the middle part, and I thot at wunst that some rascal had been stretchin' a wire across the road to knock oif the hats of horse- men it was about that height. I was mighty angry, 'v course, and went to pull down the wire, w'en lo, an' behold, it wur a spider web ! I felt powerful small at bein' fooled so, but somehow the thread seemed magnified by the sun, an' I only seed it now an' ag'in as the light twinkled on it. However, I concluded to measure it. I followed it with my eye clare to the top 'v the old sycamore tree, and calkerlated that it was more 'n a hundred feet long. I never thot much about it, and never said nothin' till now. I 've often seed them stringin' webs around the place, but never one any thin' like 's long as that 'n. I never know'd how they wur made nuther ; an' I 'm very much obleeged to you fer telliu' us." INSECT ENGINEERING. 203 "And for my part, I am greatly obliged to you, Hugh, for your fact, which is really a valuable contribu- tion to our knowledge, as I also ha've never seen nor heard of a spider's bridge-line as long as the one you describe. There are many such facts, by the way, picked up by non-scientific observers in ordinary life, which would be of greatest value to the naturalist could they be made known. "While we are on this subject I may say that young spiders often manage to string out structures that oddly resemble a bridge in miniature. After emerging from the egg-nest or cocoon, they spend a short season in colony, hanging together in little balls. (See chapter iii.) Soon they begin to move, and as they go they drag after them fine filaments of silk. A hundred spiderlings, more or less, passing from point to point, and back and forth among the bushes by single bridge- lines, and keeping close together, will not be long in laying out a series of lines and ribbons that remind one strongly of the roadway, trusses and cables of a bridge. One of the most curious miniatures of this sort which I have known was once made in my study. A package of cocoons, spun by an orbweaving spider, sent me from California, was laid upon my table. One morning upon entering the room, I found that the spiders had hatched and issued from the perforations in the lid of the package, which was a large cylindrical tin fruit- can. " From the summit of this can, as from a bridge-pier, the spiderlings had flung their lines to books and 204 INSECT ENGINEERING. 205 paper boxes laid along the table, and which thus formed a series of piers and abutments. They had already woven a sheeted way, several inches wide, that stretched above the middle of the table for five feet. Thence it spread upward to the window curtain in diverging threads, among which many of the wee adventurers hung (Fig. 69. ) I kept the bridge for several days, dur- ing which time the "roadway" received many addi- tional strings, and some of the baby bridge-builders spun delicate little cob-webs along the edges and among the trusses of their bridge, and separating themselves from their fellows, set up housekeeping for themselves. " CHAPTER XII. ARGONAUT AND GEOMETER. " WHY should your engineer friend have been dis- gusted at 3^ou for pointing out an analogy between the works of man and those of the spider ?" asked Abby, abruptly. "For my part I think the likeness is very remarkable." " Precisely my thought," said the Mistress. "It is wonderful ! It seems incredible that such human-like behavior should belong to so lowly a creature. I verily believe that I shall never again brush down a cobweb without compunction !" "I count that saying a triumph, indeed," I remark- ed with pleasure; "coming as it does from one who is the pink of perfection as a housekeeper, and withal full of natural prejudices against 'bugs,' it shows how much prevalent dislike of the living things of nature arises from lack of knowledge of their interesting habits. "I am happy to say that my friend, the engineer, soon came to the same view. He had concluded hastily that I had belittled the greatest engineering work of the age by an unworthy comparison, and the suggestion that man had been the copyist of the aranead. On the con- trary, I showed him that these were only indications, independently reached, of the one great Over-mind of ARGONAUT AND GEOMETER. 207 nature, working similar ends by analogous principles of action implanted within creatures most widely sepa- rated in organization and endowments. Surely there could be nothing humiliating in that ?" " We were presently joined by a party of gentlemen, among whom was one of Mr. Eoebling's assistants upon the Brooklyn Bridge. He was greatly interested in our conversation, and I ventured to carry my analogy a little further. This gentleman, on a previous occasion, had given me a detailed account of the building of the caissons upon which the immense stone piers had been constructed. I asked him : "Am I right, Mr. Assistant, in supposing that the principles upon which these caissons have been built are those of the diving-bell and compression of air ?" " Yes \ I suppose that we might say that very truly." " Well, then, I will venture to say that I can find the same principles embodied in, I will not say anticipated by the work of a spider. "Well, sir," said the Assistant, "you may, doubt- less, succeed ; but haven't you undertaken a pretty heavy contract ?" " You shall judge the issue. Here now," taking a note-book from my pocket, "is a rough sketch of the cell or nest of the water spider (Aryyroneta aquaticd), which is found in some of the streams of England. It is an egg-shaped silken sac, about the size of an acorn, which is woven upon water-plants underneath the ^surface. In the bottom part of the cell is a small circular opening. The cell, as first woven, is simply a 208 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. PICK 70. WATER SPIDERS AND THEIR EGG-SAC CAISSON. flat, empty sac, with the mouth downward, and as the spider is an air-breathing animal, is, of course, useless as a domicile in that condition." The gentleman followed my sketch with as much interest as you all show in this crayon outline. (Fi.70.) "Now, look here !" said my friend. "You're not ARGONAUT AND GEOMETER. 209 going io tell us that your spider will introduce air into that cell?" "That is precisely what I shall tell you. Can you guess how it will be done ?" " I have been trying to think ; but I haven't the re- motest notion how the creature could proceed. I can't imagine what implements it possesses for inflating such a structure in such a site." "It is done thus : The spider ascends to the surface slowly, assisted by a thread attached to a leaf or other support below and at the surface of the water. When it nears the top it turns, with the extremity of the abdomen upward, and exposes a portion of the body to the air for an instant. Then with a jerk it snatches, as it were, a bubble of air, which is attached beneath to the hairs that cover the abdomen, and is held from above by the two hinder legs, which are crossed at an acute angle near their extremity. This crossing of the legs occurs at the instant the bubble is seized. The little creature then descends more rapidly than it mounted, regains its cell, always by the same route, turns the abdomen within the mouth, and disengages the bubble. This is repeated many times until the sac is filled and rounded out with air. This cell serves the water spider as living-room, dining-room and nur- sery. Here she spins her saucer-shaped cocoon, fixing it against the inner side of the cell near the top. Out of it, by and by, issue a hundred spiderlings, who spend their babyhood in this ingenious home, literally ' Rocked in the cradle of the deep.' 210 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. "Now, gentlemen," I asked, "have I proved my proposition ?" " You have come pretty near doing it, at all events," said the Assistant. "Truly," said my friend, "if your facts are quite authentic, as I am bound to believe, your spider pets are worthy an honorary place in the guild of civil en- gineers. Indeed," he added, laughing, "I think that I shall suggest this animal as the most suitable emblem for our Philadelphia Engineers' Club." "I am sure that we all agree with those learned gentlemen," remarked Abby. " Thank you," I returned ; " I think I shall confirm your good opinion by going back to the geometric spider, whom we left crossing her completed bridge- cable to begin the building of her snare. The manner in which this is done is most interesting, especially to one who has a taste for mechanical work. A point near the center is usually chosen though not always and the spider proceeds first of all to lay out an irregular polygon of lines which serves as the foundation or frame work of the orb. Here it is," pointing to the crayon figure sketched upon the paper ; " and you can see that such an arrangement adds to the elasticity of the orb, and so increases its power to resist the force of the wind and of struggling insects. " Next our engineer proceeds to lay in the radii or ' spokes ' of her wheel-shaped web. I do not mean to say that she has an invariable order of action, but com- monly she will start with a central diameter; as ac ARGONAUT AND GEOMETER. 211 FIG. 71. PUTTING SPOKES TO THE WHEEL. (Fig. 71), at or near the middle 'point of which she gathers or spins a little tuft of white silk, which I mark H. From this point she proceeds to put in what we may call her first radius, H K. I will draw this figure (Fig. 72) to show how this is done. She drops her spinnerets upon the central tuft (H), and draws out a line which she seizes by one of her hind claws and holds out from her bodj. She then begins to ascend the upper part (a) of the diameter a c, and thence passes along the inner foundation line K (K i, Fig. 71) to the point K. All this time she drags after her the line which I represent by this dotted line jc, holding it far enough aloof to keep it from entan- gling with the thread over which she moves. At K (Fig. 72) she stops, pulls this drag- line taut, fastens it down to K, and thus has her first radius K e H. She now returns to the middle point H, either along the new ra- dius e, or by the round about course of Jfand a. Her next ra- FIG. 72. THE FIRST RADII. dius is laid in precisely the same 212 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. way, except that it is spun on the opposite part of the snare. Thus, returning to our first figure (Fig. 71), she will start from H down the diameter a c to the line m n, dragging after her, as before, a loose thread which she tightens, fastens here at n, and thus gets her second radius. Hence,, she will make the radii H , H m, Hb, and so on, around the circle." "I notice," said Hugh, "that you have drawn those spokes alternately. That is, you put one on this side above, and the next on the other side below. That looks mighty workman-like, sir, jist as though a mechanic had laid it out. I've done a good deal in tin- kerin' at carpentry myself, and ef I were building that kind uv a concern with lumber, or rope, either, I reckon that 's jist the way I'd set to work. Does the spider go at it in that judgmatical style, or is it only your way uv puttin' it to us ?" u I am glad you raised that point yourself," I replied, u for I had intended to notice it. The spider invariably puts in her radii in that manner, laying them by what I have called alternate apposition. I will illustrate this by another figure. I once watched an orb-weaver throughout this part of her spinning-work, and drew out my note-book and numbered the radii as they were made. Before it occurred to me to do this, the lines A, B and D had been spun. The others were placed in, in about the following order : First, HI (Fig. 73) ; then, on the opposite, H2. Next, again opposite, you see, 113, and after that 114. 5 and 6, 7 and 8, 9 and 10, and so on through all the seventeen radii which I counted. ARGONAUT AND GEOMETER. 213 FIG. 73. ALTERNATE APPOSITION. You observe that there was a con- tinual alternation of the lines, and for the most part a double alterna- tion that is, they were op- posed to each other not only as to the sides right and left but as to the top and bottom. You can all see that this order kept the web equally braced and well trimmed from the be- ginning to the end of the work." " I see that very clearly," remarked Abby, " although I confess that I have little taste for mechanics. But that isn't all of the web, is it ? Where are the little ladders that run up and down from the center ? You pointed them out to me in the snares of Bank Argiope and Caudata. Besides, I remember them by some of my experience in broidery, as this kind of snare has been very popular in fancy needle-work." "The 'ladders,' as you call them, the spider makes immediately after the radii, and there is proof of good engineering in this part of her work also. When the radii are quite done she braces them around the ends, 214 TENANTS OP AN OLD FARM. where they converge upon the center by a series of spiral lines. Then she prepares to put in the rounds of her 'ladders,' which, however, are one con- tinuous line that passes spirally across all the radii a number of times, thus forming a series of concentric circles. u These spirals are often very numerous ; -I have found as many as fifty or sixty, but generally the number does not exceed thirty. They are covered with minute beads of a very sticky substance, which give to the web its efficiency as a snare. Insects flying against the lines' are immediately entangled, and before they have time to struggle free, the watchful spider pounces upon them. As the subsistence of the aranad depends upon these spiral lines their structure becomes a matter of great importance, and is conducted with becoming care. " First of all a foundation or frame-work is spun, which we will call the spiral foundation. This consists of several concentric lines, usually about six or eight, which are also spirals, but are quite dry, that is, without viscid beads. The spider attaches a thread a short dis- tance from the center, and moves around, crossing the radii at each circle a little further toward the circum- ference until she has covered sufficient space. She thus produces a series of spirals whose bounds mark out the surface over which her beaded spirals are to be spun. "Here, for example, we have our radii, braced by these cross lines marked Z (Fig. 74). .Here at O the ARGONAUT ANT) GEOMETER. 21 5 FIG. 74. SPIRAL FOUNDATIONS PUT- TING IN THE SPIRALS. engineer begins and moves up- ward (we will say) and . out- ward until she spins the lines marked I, II, III, IV, etc. These are the spiral founda- tions. Now the movement is reversed. The spider begins at the outer margin of her spiral foundations, and from that point carries a line around, moving at each round a little nearer the center. She stops at the inner line where her foundation spirals had begun (I, Fig. 74). The series thus formed constitutes the spiral space, and the lines of this space are the ' rounds ' of what Abby called the ' ladders. ' In fact, a section of this part of the web is quite like the shrouds or rope-lad- ders of a ship. But woe to the voyager who tries to climb them ! They are covered with a substance as sticky as that which has given the ancient mariner his favorite nickname of ' old tar, ' for these are the viscid spirals of which I spoke a moment ago. " In spinning this series, the foundation spirals are used precisely as a scaffolding is used for erecting a house. I will not explain the process at length, as I 216 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. fear these details are already tiresome to some of you, but will only say that the spider moves along the radii and the dry foundation spirals at right angles to them, dragging after her the viscid line, pulling it taut when she comes opposite the point from which she started, very much in the method observed when she makes the radii. Curiously enough, as she completes the spirals, she bites away the foundation spiral behind, just as I have seen builders remove the top timbers of a scaffolding as soon as the upper parts of a wall are suffi- ciently advanced toward completion. "Tell me," said Abby, "a little more about these beads. What are they made of?" " They are secreted by the spider from glands that lay along with the silk glands in the lower part of the body near the spinning mammals. I have never been able to separate these glands from those that hold the liquid silk, and they are forced out by the spider through the spinning-tubes precisely as is the material which forms the web work. They probably have special tubes through which they are secreted. I do not know the composition of the beads ; but ' Stickwell & Co.' never made anything more viscid. I have kept beaded webs in good condition several months. The material looks like gum, but darkens a little with age. It reflects light, and I suspect that, along with the open meshes of the net-like snare, they in this way help to deceive insects approaching on wing with the impression that no obstacle lies in their course." "How can the spider make so many beads?" ARGONAUT AND GEOMETER. 217 asked the Mistress. u There must be an immense number of them ! How large are they ?" "To begin with your first question, the beads are very small. Let me draw a few strings for you. Here are four sections (Fig. 75, I, II, III. IV) that will give you some idea of their relative size and ap- pearance. For the actual size we must use a pocket-lens or a microscope; but, perhaps, I can show it thus: This last line (iv, Fig. 75) I will represent here (a, Fig. 75) in natural length. The divisions on the line iv, marked by little points, correspond with those on the line a." " And all those beads are crowded inside that little line?" "Yes ; but what they lack in size they make up in number. I once numbered the beads on a web of ordinary size by actually counting those upon a given section, and multiplying the result by the number of sections. I estimated that there were over 140,000, and in some snares the number must be much larger. It FIG. 75. AKACHNE'S PEAKLS VISCID BEADS. 218 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. used to be cited as an example of the wonderful ifl- dustry and skill of the spider that she could manufac- ture so vast a quantity of these objects in so short a time. In point of fact, however, I believe that the beads form themselves in a very ordinary way. As they issue from the tubes they gather naturally into minute drops ; the effect, perhaps, being aided by the twisting of the threads in the quick-moving fingers of the spinster. However that may be they are truly Arachne's pearls, even though like some of those worn by hei\sisters of the human species (if rumor speak not falsely) they are only made of paste. But I have ex- hausted my subject, even if I have not my class, and will say good night to our cunning little builder and her work." " Was it a geometric spider ?" asked Abby, ''whose perseverance, according to the tradition, had such an influence upon the Scottish monarch Bruce ? The story recently occurred in a reading-lesson of one of my classes, and I wondered at the time what kind of spider had the honor to teach royalty such a royal lesson." "I cannot promise to answer your question accur- ately ; but, at all events, let us hear the story. It is long since I heard it, and we all will be interested in the telling." " The narrative runs somewhat in this wise : While wandering on the wild hills of Carrick, in order to escape the emissaries of Edwar.d, Robert Bruce on one occasion passed the night under the shelter of a poor, FIG. 76. PRECEPTOR TO HIS MAJESTY : ROBERT BRUCE AND THE SPIDER. 219 20 TENANTS OF AN OLD FAHM. deserted cottage. He threw himself upon a heap of straw, and lay upon his back, with his hands placed under his head, unable to sleep. His gaze was fixed upward among the rafters of the hut, which were festooned with cobwebs. His mind brooded upon the hopelessness of the patriotic enterprise in which he was engaged, and the misfortunes that already had befallen him. From this train of thought he was diverted by the efforts of a spider, who had begun to ply its voca- tion with the first gray light of morning. The object of the animal was to swing itself by its thread from one rafter to another, but in the attempt it frequently failed, each time vibrating back to the point whence it had started. Twelve times did the little creature try to reach the desired spot, and as many times was un- successful. Not disheartened by its failure, it made the attempt once more, and lo ! the rafter was gained I " ' The thirteenth time !' cried Bruce, springing to his feet. ' I accept it as a lesson not to despond under difficulties, and shall once more venture my life for the independence of my country. ' He renewed the strug- gle, and this time won success." The narrative greatly interested our circle, and had warm commendation. "Now comes the question," I said, "whether Brace's spider was an orb-weaver ? Miss Abby's ver- sion differs from that which I remember, which made the spider's effort one to raise a heavy insect of some sort to the roof. Such an incident is more natural, and ARGONAUT AND GEOMETER. 221 the details seem better to correspond with one of our common species of line-weavers. I have never seen any sort of spider trying to reach distant points by oscillating threads, but have often observed them sway- ing in the wind. But the lesson is worth heeding, by whatever species taught, and even though it be a fable, which is not unlikely, our race has a decided tendency to associate its heroes with such incidents. The story of Bruce and the spider, for example, has its counter- part in that of Timon and the ant. - "This tendency is well illustrated by another series of incidents in which an orb-weaver is, without doubt, the spider referred to. A friend of mine once told me that one of his ancestors, during the massacre of Wyoming, had been saved from death in this way : 'He fled before the savages, and was pursued closely by a warrior, whom he succeeded at last in eluding, and took refuge in a hollow tree. He had scarcely entered ere a spider began to spin a web across the opening, and wrought so vigorously that in a short time she had woven a beautiful round snare that completely covered the hole into which the fugitive had crept. The web had just been completed, and the spider settled in the center, on the watch for prey, when the pursuing Indian appeared. He peered under and into every place that couM possibly afford shelter to a man, and, at last, came to the hollow tree. He glanced at the unbroken web and the spider quietly seated upon it, concluded that no one could have crept into that spot, and hurried on. My friend gave name, date, species and location of 222 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. (a. FIG. 77. " NOBODY IN, SIR. PASS ON ! p. 221. tree, all with accuracy of detail, and declared that the tradition had been handed down with such positiveness as to render it absolutely certain. u I questioned the story on the ground that it had been told of so many persons, at various periods, that it had become apocryphal. He promised to follow up the tradition and give me the full proofs, but unfortu- nately died shortly after, before his purpose had been fulfilled." " I have read a like incident as occurring to some of the martyrs or persecuted saints," said the Mistress, u Who was it do you remember?" ARGONAUT AND GEOMETER. 223 "The story is told of some persecuted Protestant leader during Reformation times, whose refuge was an oven. " Saint Felix of Nola had a similar adventure, as re- corded in the ' Lives of the Saints. ' Being hotly pursued by his enemies, he crept through a hole in an old ruined wall, which was instantly closed up by the spinning-work of spiders. His pursuers, never imagin- ing that anything could have lately passed where they saw so compact a spider's web, after a fruitless search elsewhere returned in the evening without their prey. Felix found among the ruins between two houses an old well half dry, in which he hid himself for six months, during which time he was cared for by a devout Christian woman. "Long before that Mohammed had the same ex- perience when fleeing from the Koreishites with Abu- beker. The two men, says the tradition, hid them- selves for three days in a cave, over the mouth of which a spider spread its web and a pigeon laid two eggs there, the sight of which prevented the pursuers from searching within, and thus the prophet and his friend were preserved. "But the earliest incident of this sort which I recall is told of David, the King of Israel. The Jews have a tradition that when he was fleeing before Saul he took refuge within one of the spacious limestone caverns found in southern Palestine. The friendly spider there- upon appeared precisely as in the other cases ; the pur- suers passed on, and the fugitive escaped," 224 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. "Do you believe that any of these incidents really occurred ?" asked Abby. "There may have been in some one case a basis of fact for the tradition. It is certainly not improbable. But for the most part I count the stories mere fictions, or perhaps fables, intended to teach a lesson of respect for the most despised creatures of God ; or perhaps to illustrate the Divine Providence. Be that as it may, it would hardly do for fugitives in our day to rely upon any such interposition, for men have now learned pretty well how rapidly a spider can spin her snare, and he would be a dull fellow who could be balked of his victim by a mistake on this point." " Wai now, Mars' MayfieP," remarked Dan, " I doan tink so poreley uv de spiders as uv mos' oder insec's. De fac' is, dey's mighty peert critters, and dey eats up de bugs powerful. Dey doan do no harm at all, dat I eber seed, 'ceptin' a bite wunst in a w'ile. Some folk 's awful feard to have one git on 'em ; but I often heerd in ole Marylan' dat you mustn't nebber kill a spider dat lights on your close ; kaze ef yo' do yo' destroys de presents dey's a-weavin' fur you. But I'm not so shore 'bout dat ; I've had a heap o' spiders light on me, and de presents es a-been skeerce as duck teeth fur all dat. Mebbe it'll be all right' dough nex' Christ- mas. De luck mus' change some time, I reckon." The old fellow bent himself over upon his folded arms, rolled his white eyes in a knowing and comical way toward the Mistress, rocked his body to and fro, and broke into one of his soft, unctuous laughs. ARGONAUT AND GEOMETER. 225 " What Dan means," said Sarah, taking up the con- versation, " is them little bits of spiders baby spiders, I 'spose they are. 'T any rate they're wee things that drop on you from the ceiling or trees by long threads. I've heerd 'em called money-spinners, and they say they'll bring good luck if you don't kill or hurt 'em, or brush 'em off when they're first seen. If you do take 'em off your clothes you must throw 'em over the left shoulder, an' that saves the luck. I wouldn't kill one of them monney -spinners on no account ; but law sakes alive ! that's nothin' to do with the big spiders that spin cobwebs in the corners ! There's no good luck in them; an nobody but a sloven 'ud let 'em stay around. I sweep 'em out without marcy." "But, Sairy Ann," said Dan, "you neber oughter kill a spider inside de house. Ef you urns' do't, w'y do't out'v doors. Et's jes' pullin' down your own house to kill a spider indoors." " The notion about the money spinners," I remarked, "is, or was, quite prevalent in England and Scotland, and I have often heard it here in America. I never quarrel with it, for it goes some length toward preserv- ing the best of our animal friends from senseless hatred and destruction. I recall another use of the superstition made by a quaint old divine : ' When a spider is found upon your clothes,' he says, ' we used to say some money is coining toward us. The moral is this : Such who imitate the industry of that contemptible creature may, by God's blessing, weave themselves into wealth and procure a plentiful estate,' " 226 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. " The most curious thing to me about spiders," re- marked Hugh, "is w'ere they come from ; I've known a house to be cleaned thorough from top to bottom, arid almost in a night a new crop sprung up. You w'itewash a fence or a wall till there's not a cobweb to be seen, and it's no time afore they're spun up ag'in, bad as ever. I'v hear'n that spiders breed from some kind of seeds that putrefy in the air, or spring up spontaneous from any sort of corruption. It does look some thin' like it, but w'at puzzles me is that they breed so rapid on places that have jest been swept an' purified." "There, Hugh," I answered, "you have touched upon a very old conceit. It was a favorite theory among ancient writers that spiders, and, indeed, many other creatures, were generated spontaneously from decay- ing objects. That arose quite naturally from seeing such matter usually covered with insects. The rapidity with which multitudes swarm to decomposing sub- stances must have appeared wonderful, as it still appears to people who had no knowledge of the hordes who lurk in trees, bush and weeds, and burrow in every inch of soil. They are natural scavengers, and the presence of corrupt material attracts them immediately in immense numbers to the work for which they are fitted. " Some devour the substance, some remove it, some bury it, many at once deposit in it eggs, or even bring forth worms which fill it with living creatures in an incredibly short space of time. The ancients, igno- ARGONAUT AND GEOMETER. 227 rant of these facts, believed that such animals had been spontaneously generated." "But, father," said the Mistress, "all this doesn't quite cover the point that Hugh has raised about the spiders. That does seem strange ; although, of course, I know that they are bred from the eggs, and don't spring out of dust and decay." " I will come to that," I answered ; " and I can best illustrate it by an incident that occurred last summer. I spent a week with a party of friends fishing upon the St. Lawrence River. Our fishing ground lay between Alexandria Bay and Lake Ontario, a region which in summer time abounds with spiders, who are nested along the shores and among the trees that cover the beautiful Thousand Islands. The skipper of our steam yacht, who soon discovered my entomological hobby, related an experience very much like Hugh's. " ' I can't imagine where all the spiders come from,' he said. ' Every morning I find their round webs spun all over the boat in amazing quantities. I have them cleaned out carefully, and the next day there they are as thick as ever ! They keep it up that way all summer, and the spiders are just as thick at the end of the season as the beginning. Where do they come from? How do they get aboard the boat ? I never found any- body who knew, and if you'll solve the mystery I'll be obliged. ' "Fortunately, I was able to give a satisfactory expla- nation. It chanced that on my way to Alexandria Bay 1 took the evening passenger boat that plies between 228 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. that point and the railroad terminus. The shadows began to lengthen as I sat in the stern of the steamer watching the charming panorama of green shore, rocky islands, and lovely villas unfold while we steamed through the transparent stream. " Suddenly a dark object passed between me and the scene. It was a huge Furrow spider (Epeira stnx), lay- ing out the foundation lines of her snare. She had dropped from the cornice of the upper deck to the bul- wark, and was mounting again when I caught sight of her. Another and another followed, and before we landed several webs were spun against the roof. I peeped under the railing against which my seat was placed, and found a number more cozily ensconced within their tough silken tubes awaiting the nightfall to begin operations. k< Our skipper's yacht I soon found to be occupied by a colony of the same species, and I solved his mystery by calling attention to the fact. "These spiders, at various times, have come aboard on little silken balloons, which, as they were borne across the river, struck upon your boat. The tiny aeronauts dismounted, and took up their quarters. They rarely appear in daytime, but at night, after you have landed and gone home, they creep out, spin their webs, and feed upon night-flying insects. In the morning, before you are ready to sail again, they are back to their dens and tents in crannies under the mouldings. Your men brush down their webs that's all ! The spiders weave them next morning, quite un- ARGONAUT AND GEOMETER. 229 concerned, and so the year wears on. They even breed on your yacht, I find, and have probably been suc- ceeded by their offspring in this ' life on the ocean wave.' " "'Well, well,' said the skipper, 'that's a kind of stowaway I never heard of before. I shall know now how to make a clean sweep of them hereafter ; but, really, I don't know that I shall do so, for such cute little beggars are almost entitled to a free passage. ' "'True enough,' I replied, 'and, moreover, they quite earn their way by ridding the vessel of more objectionable entomological passengers, who are popu- larly supposed to have free lodgings on water craft !' "'Oh! as to that,' was the quick response, 'we don't have any such shipmates aboard this boat !' " CHAPTER XIII. A BATTLE, A CONQUEST AND A NIGHT-RAID. THE CUTTING-ANT OF TEXAS. THE morning following our last conversation was one of rare excitement at the old farm. One of our most esteemed household pets is Dolf, the dog. He is a cross between a bulldog and a shepherd, is an admirable watchdog, a devoted friend and follower of his master, and has conceived a warm attachment for the School- ma'am. As to the rest of the household, and visitors generally, he is kind enough, or rather harmless by reason of supreme indifference. However, he has an inextinguishable jealousy of those of his own kind who may enter upon what he considers his lawful domain. I was, therefore, not so much surprised as agitated to hear issuing from the front porch that peculiar com- bination of sounds -snarling, snapping, yelping, tear- ing, scratching, wrestling which accompanies a dog- fight. I was engaged at the time in the back yard, with Penn Townes, a thrifty young farmer and de- scendant of Jane Townes, the pioneer, who had ridden over from his neighboring place on some matter of business. Unfortunately his dog had accompanied him, a fact which I had not observed until the clamor on the front porch announced it. I rushed to the scene of 230 THE CUTTING-ANT OF TEXAS. 231 battle, picking up a croquet mallet as Iran. Young Townes followed, armed with his riding-whip. The discords of the fight grew fiercer, and then for a moment ceased at the sound of a woman's voice, heard above the din in sharp command. My heart leaped to my throat. What woman could be so hardy as to interfere in such a conflict ? We turned the corner of the house, and saw Abby Bradford standing between the two dogs. She had grasped them by the leather collars around their necks, and held them aloof by main strength. The animals stood at full height upon their hind-legs, and struck at and struggled to reach each other with their forepaws and fangs. They were face to face, with glaring eyes and foaming mouths, while horrible growls issued from between their white teeth. It was a splendid sight: the maiden's erect form, whose every muscle was swollen by the effort to hold the fierce beasts at bay, crowned by the pale face, set with the intensity of emotions, under whose play every feature was illumined with new beauty. It is strange how a human face lights up and transforms under the agitations of a high and courageous deed ! I have never seen a sharper and more significant contrast between the moral faculties as represented by man, and the animal passions characteristic of the brutes, than that exhibited by the tableau which came into view that morning as we entered the front yard those ram- pant and angry dogs struggling in the hands of that brave, comely young woman ! 232 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. This thought was involuntary and instantaneous. It was as fully rounded before my mind in that moment, while runnnig in full heat, as now, while I quietly write under the shadow of my tent-studio beneath green trees. But there was no delay in action ; indeed there was need of haste, for the large animals, doubly strengthened by their anger, had well-nigh exhausted Abby's strength, and were once more striking each other with their fangs. She relinquished her hold, and between whip and mallet the young farmer arid I parted the dogs at last, and Dolf was sent growling to his kennel. Then we turned to Abby, who, meanwhile, had stood intermingling with the angry shouts of the men and the yelps of the dogs, earnest pleas that the poor brutes should not be injured. "Are you hurt?" I asked. "Why, no! That is, I think not. Really, I hadn't thought of that. But I am not sure." She lifted her hand ; it was covered with blood from a cruel wound in the thumb. "Ah, I remember now. It was Dolf who bit me ; but he didn't mean it, poor fellow ! He loves me too well for that. I don't think I am much hurt." "Not hurt, honey?" cried old Dan, who had just arrived panting and excited. "Not hurt?" throwing up his hands and showing the whites of his eyes ; " look at dat blood den I Drat dat ole dorg ! He'd orter be massacreed, chawin' on slch a lily ban' as dat ! HoP on dar a minit ; I'll fix dat bleedin'." He ran to the arbor vitse hedge, where numbers of THE CUTTING-ANT OF TEXAS. 233 the specked Tubeweaver (Agalena ncevia) yearly spin their broad snares, and scooped up several of the sheeted webs. " Hole up dat han' now, honey ; cobwebs is famous for stoppin' blood. Dis'll do it shore ! Doan you worry now. Ole Dan'll make it all right. Dar now, dat'lldo." As he cooed on in this way he applied the web like a plaster to the torn flesh. His rough surgery was hap- pily successful in stanching the blood. By this time the whole family had assembled, Abby herself being far the least agitated of the group. Such home remedies as were available were applied to the wound, and Joe was posted off for the doctor. The household was unanimous in upbraiding the bold girl for her act, and just as unanimous in admiration of her courage. No one was more enthusiastic in praise than Penn Tovvnes. u It was the pluckiest thing I ever saw," he averred, u whether done by man or woman." He was sincere in regrets and apologies for his own share in the misfortune by allowing his dog to follow him, and rode home evidently much disturbed. This is how our Schoolma'am and Farmer Townes became acquainted, and it thus happened that two new members were introduced to our family conversations. On the evening of the accident Penn called to inquire about Miss Abby, who, being quite able to answer for herself, did so, evidently much to the young man's satisfaction. A few days thereafter iie called again, and, 234 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. as the next evening was our time for Weekly Conversa- tion, lie expressed a lively interest in the matter, and begged permission to attend. Of course we readily con- sented, although the Mistress somewhat abated my zeal over the acquisition of a new proselyte to entomology by suggesting that, perhaps, the chief object of Penn's interest belonged to a higher order of creatures than insects ! But that is a way which our lady friends have they seem to think that no subject can have such attractions to men, particularly young men, as themselves ! Be that as it may, Penn appeared in our next circle, and as the invitation had been extended to all his family, he brought with him his mother. Mrs. Townes is a plain Friend, adhering closely, but without rigidity, to the doctrines, manner, dress and speech of her ancestors. She had already shown a neighborly interest in us, and with a love of nature and natural science which is characteristic of the Society to which she belongs, entered heartily into our conversa- tions. Her kindly ways had gained for her among "world's people " throughout all our country side the familiar title of " Aunt Hannah. " We readily dropped into the usage, as it seemed a happy compromise between the plain " Hannah " of her co-religionists, which appeared to us lacking in respect, and the formal u Mrs. Townes," which was somewhat distasteful to her. "Among the tenants of our old farm," I said, " there are none more numerous than the ants. I shall have something to say about them by-and-by, but to-night T r^nll pprak about some of their cousins-german who THE CUTTING- ANT OF TEXAS. 235 live in Texas. One summer I visited that State to make some studies upon a certain ant." " Does thee mean to say," interrupted Aunt Han- nah, " that thee went all that distance, two thousand miles, just to study a single insect ?" "Certainly he did," the Mistress answered, "in the blazing heat of summer, too. He lived like an Indian, worked like a negro, spent no one knows how much money for traveling, outfit, wages, etc., then fell to work and wrote and published his book at his own ex- pense, all for the sake of one miserable little ant that stings like a wasp, and is a nuisance in Texas harvest fields. You wouldn't ask such a question, Aunt Han- nah, if you knew the naturalists better. Why, they are the veriest race of Paul Prys I ever saw. Talk about the curiosity of women ! I don't believe there's a woman in Christendom that would go through so much labor, danger and expense just to peek and pry into the secrets of an ant-hill. But, there ! Excuse me, dear. I fear this is an outbreak of the old- fashioned prejudice. You know I am now only too happy to see you busy among your bugs." The company had a hearty laugh at the Mistress's somewhat vivid portraiture of a naturalist, in which I joined with zest. U I shall not be offended," I said, "at such good- natured truth-telling as that. I assure you that I think none the less of myself for that old-time infatua- tion. Moreover, I cordially agree with the conclusion of the matter. Men are more curious than women 236 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. many times over. I have often said it, and for that very reason have maintained that the sterner sex will always be the superior naturalists. But a truce with this ! We are making no progress with our story. " I made my camp in a mesquit grove on the plateau of Barton Creek, a branch of the Colorado, a few miles beyond Austin, not far from the government trail to San Antonio. Here I found the insects which I sought in abundance, and spent several weeks studying them. But I shall not speak of them now. I found also another interesting species, the Cutting or Parasol Ant, whose habits I investigated. They furnish a remark- able example in one insect of both the cave-dwelling and engineering habit of which we have been recently conversing. In the first place we want to make the ac- quaintance of the ant itself. In this box, which I have had sent me from my collection in the Academy of Natural Sciences, are pinned specimens of the various castes or forms that may be found in one of the Cutting- Ant nests. "Is it possible that these are ants ?" cried Abby, as the box was opened. "Why they are larger than a bumble-bee." " Yes, these largest forms are the females or young queens, the next in size are the males. These wingless fellows with the large heads are the soldiers, and others, running down through several forms to these tiny creatures no bigger than our little brown garden ant, are the workers. This difference in size among the individual castes of one species, in one common domi- THE CUTTING-ANT Off TEXAS. 237 FIG. 78. WINGED FEMALE, MALE, SOLDIER AND WORKER- MAJOR OF CUTTING-ANT (Atta fervens} . cile, is one of the most curious facts in natural his- tory." "A word about these winged ants?" asked Abby. "I do not quite understand. I have often heard people speak of a winged ant as though it were a special kind. But you speak of winged and unwinged forms in the one nest. Please explain. " " The males and young females of ants are always winged. In this respect they resemble their hymen- opterous allies, the bees and wasps. When they are 238 TENANTS OP AN OLD FARM. matured, they swarm or go forth on their marriage flight, as it is called. After this, the males all perish or are devoured by various animals. The young females tear off their wings and burrow in the ground. They are then queens, and become mothers and founders of new colonies." " But why do they tear off their wings ?" asked Abby. "The queen bumble-bee that we saw the other day had her wings quite like all the other bees." "Yes, the workers of bees and wasps are all winged, and their mode of life, while gathering food afield as well as at home r for the most part requires and is accom- modated to a winged state. It is different with ants, who are largely scavengers and burrowers, having no use for wings except during the marriage flight, for which purpose solely they seem to be provided. The queen ant doubtless finds the beautiful appendages to her wardrobe entirely too cumbersome for her workaday life, and therefore puts herself into plain attire." "There, Aunt Hannah," suggested Abby. "You see you can ' go to the ant ' to find a justification for your notions about plain dressing." " Thank thee, Abby, for thy good word," said Aunt Hannah, smiling. "But thee" forgets that the queen bee and all her busy workers, who have quite as good a name for the virtues of industry and economy, keep their gay apparel. Friends are not so severe in their views of dress as they used to be, and perhaps there is less need of their testimony. At all events, to return to thy analogy, if it seems becoming to the queen ant to THE CUTTING-ANT OF TEXAS. 239 FIG. 79. MOUND NEST OF CUTTING-ANT. cast off her gaudy ornaments, we will not say that the queen bee who adheres to her wings is without natural, becoming and industrious ways. My plain bonnet suits me very well, Abby, but perhaps it might not be so becoming to thy beauty. Though, I think thee would make a very pretty Quakeress, too !" she added, with a pleasant smile, and kindly glanced at the blushing Schoolma'am. We cordially enjoyed this good-humored sally, and 240 TENANTS Off AN OLD FARM. with a word of commendation for Aunt Hannah's generous opinions, I resumed my narrative. " There were several large colonies of cutting-ants at points sufficiently near camp for purposes of study. The surface architecture presented two typical forms. One of these was that of a mound twenty-one feet long and about four feet high, which had been accumulated around a large double-trunk live-oak tree (Quercus virens), which stood on the side of a road. (Fig. 79.) The second form was located on a high, flat, up- land prairie, and was a bed of denuded earth, about nine by seven feet in dimensions. It was placed in the midst of the grassy open, but not far from a young grove of forest trees. " Over the denuded surface were scattered between twenty and thirty circular, semi-circular, and S-shaped elevations of fresh earth-pellets. The circular mound- lets had the appearance of a cuspidore, the resemblance being stronger by reason of a round, open entrance or gallery-door in the center. All had been naturally formed by the gradual accumulation of the pellets of sandy soil, as they were brought out by the workers and dumped upon the circumference of the heap. The moundlets were from three to four inches high, massed at the base, and gradually sloped off' toward the top. I found several of these ' beds,' as the Texans call them, and this is doubtless the normal form of the external architecture of the formicary. The live-oak mound was probably formed by accumulations around the tree, caused by the bordering road which restricted the limits TUE CUTTING-ANT OF TEXAS. 241 y-i f > of the gates, and so threw separate moundlets back upon each other. u My first view of the mound led me to fear that I had made a seri- ous mistake and pitched my camp near an abandoned nest. There was not ,a, sign of life. The mound was covered over with earthen knobs or warts of various sizes, but FIG. 80. PROCESSION OF PARASOL OR CUTTING-ANTS. the action of a recent shower upon the black soil gave the hill the appearance of an old one. Here and there were scattered over the surface small, irregular heaps of dry leaves, bits of leaves and twigs. Otherwise the mound seemed lifeless, deserted. " My next visit was in the evening. After supper I 243 THE CUTTING-ANT OF TEXAS. 243 left one of my men to guard camp and build a camp- fire, and took another with me carrying a lantern, to the live-oak nest. An amazing change had occurred ; instead of silence and seeming desolation a scene of thronging life and stirring activity was presented. Hosts of ants of various sizes, and in countless numbers, were hurrying out of open gates into the neighboring jungle, and two long double columns were stretched from bottom to top of the overhanging live-oak ; one column ascended, the other descended the tree. The ants in the descending column all carried above their heads portions of green leaves, which waved to and fro and glanced in the lantern light, giving to the moving host a weird look as it moved along. It seemed like a procession of Lilliputian Sabbath-school children bear- ing aloft their banners. It is this habit which has given the insect in some quarters the popular name of the "Parasol Ant." " But what could the creatures want with parasols ?" asked Abby. " There was neither sunshine nor rain to protect themselves from ?" " We shall see the use of these leaf-cuttings presently. The name parasol is of course based upon a popular fancy, as these ants when seen abroad are usually ac- companied like that friend of our boyhood, Robinson Crusoe with their odd-looking umbrella-like append- ages." (Fig. 81.) "Do they hold them in their hands ?" asked Aunt Hannah. " No, in their jaws or mandibles ; an odd place to 244 1ENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. carry a parasol, perhaps, but they manage it well. I will show you how this is done when I have explained the leaf-cutting habit. I observed very fully at the nests around my camp and in vegetable gardens near Austin the mode of cutting and carrying leaves. In order better to see the process I thrust leafy branches of live-oak into the mound near the gates. They were soon covered with ants, and as the lantern could thus be used con- veniently, the operations of the cutters were com- pletely in view. The cut- ting is done in this way : The cutter grasps the leaf with outspread feet and makes an incision at the edge by a scissors-like motion of her sickle-shaped, toothed mandibles. She gradually revolves, steadily cutting as she does so, her mandibles thus describing a circle, or the greater portion thereof. The feet turn with the head. The cut is a clean one quite through the leaf." "How large a piece do the insects cut out ?" Aunt Hannah asked. " The cutting is about the size of a ten-cent piece or sixpence, and is usually roundish in shape, though often irregular. The cutter would sometimes drop with the FIG. 82. DEFOLIATED TWIG OF PRIBE-OF-CHINA-TREE. THE CUTTING- ANT OF TEXAS. 245 FIG. d. ANT MAKING A CUTTING FROM A LIVE-OAK LEAF. excision to the the ground, sometimes retire when the section had dropped, and sometimes seize the section and carry it down the tree or branch." " I was greatly interested to notice here an apparent division of labor. At the foot of one tree was a pile of cut leaves, to which clippings were being continually added by droppings from above. Carriers on the FIG. 84. HEAD OF A CUTTING-ANT, ENLARGED EIGHT TJMFS 246 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. ground took these up and bore them to the nest. The loading of the sections was accomplished in this wise : the piece was seized with the curved mandibles, the head elevated and the piece thrown back with a quick motion. Let me draw for you the head of an ant and you will see how this is done. A deep furrow runs along the entire medial line, except the part at the very end of the face called the clypeus. At the edge of this furrow, on either side, and on the prothorax pro- jecting over the neck are prominent spines, which you will notice if you look again at the specimens. (Fig. 84.) " I have a cousin who once lived in Texas," remarked Penn, " and he has told me that things down there have a wonderful tendency to be jagged and thorny. How is that?" " Certainly it is so with many plants and animals. Both species of ants studied by me, the cutting (Atta fervens] and agricultural (Pogonomyrmex barbatus) are marked with strong spines. Then there are spinous spiders, though we have some of them on our old farm too ; horned toads hopping everywhere, horned lizards running swiftly over the ground, prickly cactus plants grown into great bushes, thorn trees of many sorts, the soap plant, the splendid Spanish bayonet, certainly well named, and, not to be tedious, the famous wide-horned Texas cattle herding in thousands on the plains. " The spines upon our cutting ant together with the furrow seem to serve a very good purpose. The worker seizes the leaf-section and by a quick motion lodges it on edge within the furrow and between the THE CUTTING-ANT OF TEXAS. 247 spines. This is done, at least, in some cases. The cutting and carrying were not done, so far as I saw, by the smallest castes. The soldiers also rarely engaged in this work but were seen to precede the excursion columns as they moved out and up the tree, and afterward to return as though engaged as scouts or pioneers. They are grotesque-looking creatures as they move along with a rolling gait, shaking their big heads and waving their antennae. Here Dan joined in the conversation. "Mars MayfieP, I doan see how you could abar to mix up wid dem ants in dat away. I wouldn't do it for no mone}'. Dey's entirely too wise for scch brute critters. Taiii't naterl wisdom nohow. How yo' s'pose dey do all dem tings jes by 'msels ? Doan tell me ! My ole mammy done tell me often : ' Nebber 'stroy de ants, honey. Dey'z all fairies ; eb'ry one of 'em fairies; 'n ef yo' interfar wid' em dey '11 'witch our cows so dat dey'llgive no milk.' Dis's a great dairy county, Mars Mayfiel', 'n I tell yo' dar's powerful need of bein' cau- tious 'bout meddlin' too much wid tings wat's got sech onuaterl ways. 'Scuse me, sah, but dat's my 'pinion." "All right, Dan," I responded; "this is 'Liberty Hall' on our Conversation nights, and we want every one to feel free to speak upon the subject before us. Besides, I have now said all that I intend to-night, and will gladly hear others." "Daniel," said Aunt Hannah, "doesn't thee know that that is superstition ? No such power as thee 248 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. spoke of is given to any creature. The insects have natural power to harm us, and they do it pretty freely, some of them, but they have nothing more, and thee is too old to believe and utter such unwise things. Where did thee learn such things ?" "I am afraid, Aunt Hannah," said I, answering for Dan, " that our friend is too old to rid himself of these notions, and I have already put our young people on their guard. I don't wonder, however, that Dan has picked up that superstition about ants bewitching cows, for he is from Maryland, you know, and such an opinion does certainly prevail in the neighborhood of Washing- ton, and throughout Virginia." This little episode concerning the occult powers of nature brought Sarah to the front, as such subjects were pretty sure to do. Standing in the kitchen door with hands under her apron, she attacked Aunt Hannah's position with much emphasis. "Super- stition ! There it goes ag'in 1 Folks is got so awful lamed nowadays, that they're not content onless they're upsottin' some belief 'r other that common folks hold, an' their feythers afore 'em. Now, for my part, I believe 'u witches. More 'u that, I believe that not only dumb critters but human bein's, too, are bewitched lots of 'em I That's not to say, however, that Dan's right about them ants. I don't believe ther's any harm in 'em at all. Dan got the cart afore the horse, as he ginrely does. I believe there's good luck in ants. They're most industrious critters, trig and tidy as a posey. An' vv'at's more, Seripter commends 'em, and FIG. 85. ANTS BEWITCHING THK COWS. p. 247 249 250 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. sots 'em up as an example for usn's barrin 7 always them pesky little red house-ants w'ich I don't believe Scripter ever meant to include. Doesn't the Bible say 'Go to the ant, thou sluggard consider her ways and be wise ' ? Now you don't think the Bible'd speak that-a-way 'v witches, do you, Dan ? Of course not. "I always heerd there 'z good luck in ants. My granmam told me she was an Englishwoman that it was writ in the Royal Dream Book that to dream of ants or bees showed that you'd live in a great town or city, or in a large family, and that you will be indus- trious, happy, well married, and have a large family." "Well, Sary Ann," answered Dan, rising from the cricket and placing himself in a safe position by the back kitchen door, "ole Dan, mebbe, doan' git t'ings allus perpendickler ; but I reckon he'd git it 'bout right this time ef he'd 'low that you didn't never dream uv ants!" With this retort he disappeared, wafting back to the disconcerted cook whose matrimonial venture had been notoriously unfortunate a triumphant and aggravating " He, he ! ho I" " Thee must excuse Daniel," said Aunt Hannah, who felt bound to apologize for the old man's familiar ways. " Thee knows he has been employed in the family for half a century and more, and like most old servants, he is disposed to take many liberties. Indeed, he feels a sort of proprietorship in the old place." "Don't trouble yourself, Aunt Hannah," responded the Mistress. " Mr. May field is anxious to call out all the curious notions and superstitions which prevail about THE CUTTING-ANT OF TEXAS. 251 insects among all classes of persons, and he has encour- aged all our people to talk freely. They are not likely to step much beyond the bounds of propriety, and I don't care to restrain them." "Very well; thee will find Daniel a good, faithful fellow, but much tainted with curious African supersti- tions, and sometimes over-free with his opinions. Good-night, and many thanks for this pleasant evening and thy kind invitation to return. Come, Penn, if thee has finished explaining that ant-hill to friend Abby, we will go. ' CHAPTEK XIV. A TOUR THROUGH A TEXAS ANT-HILL. u WHAT do the cutting-ants do with the leaves which they carry into their holes ?" The evening's conversation began with this question. " I was very anxious to answer that inquiry, you may be sure, and there was only one way to do so I must dig up the nest. My three assistants were armed with pick and shovel ; I was provided with trowel, knife, pocket-rule, and my little satchel, filled with boxes, bottles, and various odds and ends for collecting speci- mens and other work. Camp-stool and drawing materials stood at the road-side. We knew that the insects would swarm upon us in innumerable legions when we assaulted their home, and that their sharp pincers would be formidable weapons. We therefore, like ancient knights, girt ourselves with armor for the conflict. " Handkerchiefs and scarfs were bound around face and ears under our hats ; bandages swathed our necks tightly ; trousers were thrust into boot-tops, and these tightened to the legs ; hands were gloved and wrists bandaged ; indeed, every opening through the clothing by which the angry ants might find way to the body was protected by wrappings. Thus ar- rayed, I led my little army to the assault. A TOUR THROUGH A TEXAS ANT-HILL. 253 Two men were detailed for the digging, one to the work of brushing off the ants with leafy branches and wisps of grass. Two trenches were made ; one ten feet long and five feet deep, and a second at right angles to it, and wide enough to allow free entrance for purposes of study. We were not disappointed in our calculation as to the reception which the ants would give us. The swift use of the spade and the general convulsion of their emmet world did, indeed, daze them for a little while ; but they were not long in rallying. Hundreds thousands hundreds of thousands poured out of the excavations. I never saw anything like it. I was amazed at the extraordinary number of creatures inhabiting that one hill. The knight of the whisk was overwhelmed with the duty of keeping the assailing legions from his comrades of the spade. I came to his help. We were both driven to our utmost. The dig- gers were literally covered with ants ; and when the insects had mounted as far as their necks, they were compelled to leap from the trench, and join their own labors with ours in freeing them from the attacking hordes." "It does seem too bad," exclaimed Aunt Hannah, u that thee should have felt bound so to destroy the poor creatures ! Didn't thy conscience hurt thee some for such wholesale spoliation and killing ?" " Not in the least certainly in the case of cutting- ants, who are fearful pests to the farmers, as we shall see by-and-by. Do you feel any scruples at your hus band's slaughter of the potato-beetles?" A TOUR THROUGH A TEXAS ANT-HILL. 255 " Joseph doesn't have any, at all events," said Aunt Hannah, smiling. "Besides that," I continued, "the naturalist, as a priest in the temple of nature, must have some power over the life of the lower creatures. I didn't kill any more ants than were actually necessary for study. If we hadn't killed them they would have driven us from the field ; for I assure you, Aunt Hannah, they don't practice your gentle Quaker principles of non-resist- ance. But to go back to my story. "By dint of perseverance we finished our trenches, and had beautifully exposed the interior of the formi- cary. We were not long in reaching the caves in which the ants dwell. Then came my turn to enter the trench, for the rude strokes of spade and pick could not be trusted to the delicate work of making out the forms and proportions of the rooms and roadways of the formicary. It is no easy task to trace these through the inside of a crumbling ant-hill, and it re- quired careful work. Down into the trench, therefore, I must go, and as I had to work slowly and at close quarters, picking away piece by piece, measuring, tak- ing notes, gathering specimens, I was far more exposed than my assistants. Indeed, it required the united efforts of all three to keep the ants away from my face. As for the rest of my body I bade them let that go, although occasionally a soldier ant would thrust his sharp sickles even through my clothing, and force me to give him attention. However, our punishment by 'these insects was mild as compared with that of the 250 A TOUR THROUGH A TEXAS ANT-HILL, 257 agricultural ants, who have stings as sharp and viru- lent as hornets. "The interior of the formicary may be briefly de- scribed as an irregular arrangement of caverns com- municating with the surface and with each other by tubular galleries. These caverns or pockets were of various sizes, three feet long and less, and twelve inches v,ep by eight inches high, and less. Now we come to lAe question of how the ants dispose of the leaves which they collect. "Within these caverns were masses of a light, delicate leaf-paper wrought into what may properly be called 'combs.' Some of the masses were in a single hemi- sphere, filling the central parts of the cave; others were arranged in columnar masses two and one-half inches high, placed in contact along the floor. Some of these columns hung-like a rude honey-comb or wasp's nest from roots that interlaced the chamber. The material was in some cases of a gray tint, in others of a lead-brown color and was all evidently composed of the fibre of leaves." (Fig. 88.) "You speak of this material as leaf-paper,' said Abby. " Do you mean that the leaves were fastened together like pieces of paper, or that they were ground up and made into a true paper ?" " The fibre of the leaves had actually been reduced to pulp, and spread out into a papery mass, which had dried into the shapes described." " But how could this have been done ?" " Undoubtedly by the joint action of the mandibles 258 A TOUR THROUGH A TEXAS ANT-HILL. 259 and salivary glands. The former organs are powerful instruments that readily grind up the leaves, which are kept moist and pliable by the latter organs. This is, in fact, a rude process of paper-making, and it is not sur- prising to find the habit in the ants, since it exists in great perfection among their close relations, the wasps. "On examination, the pulpy masses proved to be composed of cells of various sizes, irregular in shape, but maintaining pretty constantly the hexagon. Some of the cells were half an inch in diameter, many one- fourth inch, most of them one-eighth inch, and quite minute. Some were one inch deep, and usually nar- rowed into a funnel-like cylinder. Large circular open- ings penetrated the heart of the columns. Ants in great number, chiefly of the small castes, were found within the cells ; in the first large cave opened were also great quantities of larvsc." " Does thee know what these leaf-combs are used for ?" asked Aunt Hannah. " I believe that they are the living-rooms of the ants, particularly of the grubs and younglings. The eggs, I think, are deposited within the cells, and are there hatched. The paper is so fragile that it breaks under the most delicate handling, but the ants ran over it with impunity. However, Mr. Belt has started the curious theory that the leaf-paper masses are a sort of mushroom garden, wherein a minute fungus is pur- posely cultivated by the ants for food. That, if true, would certainly show a rare degree of intelligence, though by no means beyond the emmet capacity. I 260 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. submitted some of my specimens to the microscope, and they did show fungus growths, but that is only what might be expected in such dark, underground en- vironment. I believe that the chief food of the ants is the juice of the leaves which they gather, although they are not confined to that diet. I saw one immense column, for example, engaged in plundering a granary of wheat, which was being carried away, grain by grain, to the nest." "Have they any preference among the trees which they defoliate ?" asked Abby. u Yes; a decided preference. The principal leaves gathered at my camp were those of the live-oak. The great tree above the mound was, in some parts, stripped to the very top. The young saplings in the neighbor- hood were in great part or wholly stripped. Some wild vine unknown to me was an especial favorite, but some plants stood in the little thicket around quite untouched. I thought it curious, by-the-way, that the workers showed a preference for beginning their operations at the topmost or outmost twigs of the branches. A china-tree which I observed showed one side nearly stripped of leaves, while the other side was untouched. (Fig. 89.), "I visited the grounds of an intelligent nurseryman near Austin, and learned from him many interesting facts. The ants prefer trees with a smooth leaf, are severe upon grapes, peaches, china-tree, radishes ; take celery, beets, young corn and wheat, plum, pomegran- ate, honeysuckle, cape jessamine, cape myrtle, althea. A TOUR THROUGH A TEXAS ANT-HILL. 261 FIG. 89. PRIDE-OF-CHINA TREE STRIPPED OF LEAVES ON ONE SIDE BY CUTTING-ANT. On the other hand, they do not like lettuce, won't take the paper mulberry, nor figs and cedar, except the bud ends in the scant days of winter. They love sugar, grain and tobacco !" "Tobacco!" exclaimed Aunt Hannah; "can such an unnatural taste exist in a pure state of nature ?" "Oh, for that matter," remarked Abby, "I think 262. TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. it far more fitting material for an ant's jaws than a man's !" " They certainly seem to find a use for it," I resumed, " for the nursery man assured me that the ants made foraging excursions even into his house, entered his desk-drawers, and carried away a portion of his chew- ing tobacco before the robbery was discovered. He had to be very careful thereafter where he deposited the de- lectable weed." "Truly," cried Abby, "wonders never cease to be explained. It has always been a mystery to me how the tobacco-chewing habit could have originated among men. But here we have it ! It comes down by long descent from some far away emmet ancestor of ours !" "Tut, tut, Abby," interposed Aunt Hannah. "What does thee mean by such nonsense?" "Nonsense! Why should you call it that?" re- torted Abby, while her eyes twinkled merrily. " It was only a few days ago that I read, floating through our daily papers, a saying of one of Mr. May field's dis- tinguished ant-loving friends to the effect that if one were to 1 judge from intelligence and , general affinity of social habit and organization alone, man might more readily be derived from an ant than from an ape. So, there I My remark has the wisdom of the evolutionists behind it, and a specialist's justification besides." " We cannot stop to settle the wisdom of Abby's re- mark," I observed, " or even whether she is in jest or earnest. But I will cordially endorse Sir John Lub- bock's remark, with a good deal of emphasis, however, A TOUR THROUGH A TEXAS ANT-HILL. 263 on the if. I was frequently surprised at the ability of these cutting-ant masons to excavate vast halls and subterranean avenues. I visited several holes in the vicinity of Austin, out of which ' beds ' or nests of ants had been dug by an old man who used to follow the business of an ant-exterminator. These holes were nearly as large as the cellar of a small house. One such excavation, about three miles from the city, was twelve feet in diameter and fifteen feet deep. At the lowest point the main cave or chamber had been found which, I was told, was as large as a flour barrel. In this central cavern were many winged insects, males and females, and quantities of larvse. It was the head^ quarters of the formicary, whence, in various direc- tions, radiated avenues through which the workers issued upon their numerous raids. "I was struck by the engineering skill displayed in laying out these avenues. Take this example. The nest of which I speak was situated 669 feet from a tree that stood in the front yard of a gentleman's house. The tree had been stripped bare of leaves by the cutting- ants ! Assisted by a young civil engineer, I took the range of the underground way traversed to reach this point, and from the survey, an accurate route was con- structed by a friend in the office of the Pennsylvania Railroad. This is a copy of it (see page 264.) You see that the course varies little from a direct line. There were no turnings or twistings, but the tunnel ran from point to point straight as an arrow flies. In this respect the map is true to the facts." (Fig. 90.) TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. " That is an important explana- tion," Abby remarked, "for I have learned to take all maps that issue from railroad offices with great allowance for a scientific use of the imagination. It is surprising to see how straight their lines run between main points on the maps, and how many curves, sweeps and deflections there are when you come to ride on their trains !" As Abby's sally evidently touched a common experience it was greeted with hearty merriment. "I can vouch for the accuracy of this chart, at all events," I said. "And this is all the more remarkable when you remember that the lines were run underground. In some places the tunnel was as deep as six feet be- neath the surface, the average depth being about eighteen inches. At the 'Exit Hole, '484 feet from the nest, the tunnel was two feet deep. I am not prepared to say upon what principles these lines were laid out by the ants, but I venture the opinion that they show as good evi- dence of thorough engineering in going directly to their points of des- A TOUR THROUGH A TEXAS ANT-HILL. 265 tination, as do the famous underground railways of Lon- don. Besides this main way which I haved escribed, there were two branch tunnels which deflected from the trunk-line near the country road, in order to gain en- trance to a peach orchard one hundred and twenty feet distant." "How did you trace these tunnels ?" asked Penn. "It must have been an immense work to dig after them." "The work had been done by the planter, who, de- termined to exterminate the nest, had traced it up with the help of laborers. Much of the way was actually dug out, and the trench was visible when I visited the place. As to the rest, it was only necessary to sink holes here and there along the estimated course, and when the tunnel was struck, take another bearing. The nest was finally reached, and the great pit was there to show how extensive the colony had been. " In view of such observations as these, I am quite prepared to believe the story related by Dr. Lincecum, who long observed the habits of the cutting-ants in Texas, that they on one occasion tunneled beneath a stream in order to reach a garden that lay on the opposite side. There is one other remarkable habit which I observed before the mound nest near my camp had been destroyed. It relates to the opening and shutting of the gates which communicate with the interior. I soon found that doors were opened and closed before and after every exit from the nest. The process is a long, careful, and complicated one." 266 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. " What did the gates look like ?" asked Harry. " They are simply little heaps of dry leaves, twigs, and such like refuse, which are seen scattered here and there over the mound as one approaches it in day-time. (Fig. 91.) When I first saw them, as I have told you, FIG. 91. THE GATE CLOSED. I was completely deceived, and thought them nothing more than accidental accumulations. I found out, however, that these piles were raised above the surface opening of the galleries that penetrated the mound, and that they filled the mouths to the depth sometimes of an inch and a half. The leaves and chips were in- termingled with pellets of soil, and occasionally below them the gallery was quite sealed with pellets. The galleries frequently slant inward from the gate, and at as great an angle as forty-five degrees. Sometimes they deflect a short distance from the top. These con- formations allow more readily the process of closing, as they give a purchase to the material used. u The doors are opened about dusk. First appear the A TOUR THROUGH A TEXAS ANT-HILL. 267 minims, the very small forms, creeping out of minute holes, which they have doubtless made by working inside, and deporting from the heap grains of sand. Presently larger forms follow, carrying away bits of refuse, which they drop a couple of inches more or less from the gate. This is a slow process, and apparently nothing is accomplished for a long time. But evidently the whole mass of plugging is thus gradually loosened. Then comes the final burst, with soldiers, majors and minors in the lead, who rush out, bearing up before them the rubbish, which flies here and there, and in a few moments is cleared away from the gallery and spread around the margin of the gate. (Fig 92.) These FIG. 92. THE GATE OPEN. chips are doubtless gathered together for this purpose, and are among the treasured properties of the ants being kept near by for such service. I easily identified A TOUR THROUGH A TEXAS ANT-HILL. 269 many pieces as being thus used several days in succes- sion. " The doors remain open to give exit and entrance to the swarms of leaf-gatherers until morning when they are gradually closed, the process continuing in some cases until 10:30 A.M. In shutting up the house the minors appear to begin by dragging the scattered refuse toward the hole. One by one they are taken in, and the ingenuity shown in this is very great. My field note- book is full of sketches showing the progress, step by step, of gate-closing, and the admirable manner in which the workers proceed by properly adjusting the longest stalks and leaves that can stretch across and wedge into the mouth of the gallery, and then laying the shorter one atop of these. (Fig. 93.) " But I cannot dwell upon these details. As the hole gradually fills up, the smaller castes of workers ap- pear upon the field and take up the work to which their slighter frames are adapted. The last touches are care- fully and delicately made by the minims who, in small squads, fill in the remaining interstices with minute grains of sand ; and finally the last laborer steals in behind some bit of leaf, and the gate is closed. It then presents to the casual observer the appearance which I have described, and which is shown in the cut, of a small heap of dry chips accidentally accumulated upon the ground." I was delighted to note the interest with which my friends followed this description, and how eagerly they hung upon my words. Several drew a deep breath and 270 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM, uttered various exclamations as I concluded, and when I called attention to a figure which I had drawn, show- ing a gate when closed, and the same when opened, even Sarah left her recess in the shadow of the kitchen door to look at it. " An' what do they go thro' all thet bother for ?" at length she asked. I hesitated a moment, but observing that the question voiced the wish of others, was about to speak, when Dan took up the answer for me. "Bressyo' heart, honey," he said. "What do yo"* shet yo' doahs fer ? Ef eber dar wur a 'tickler body on dat subject uv shettin' doahs, it's yo', Sairy Ann. An' I's done said, many en' many's the time, dat de 'mount uv bother 't yo'd make 'bout dem ole doahs uv yo's, is onreasonable out uv all perportion." " Onreasonable 1" cried Sarah, quite thrown off her guard. "That's the way with you men allus the way. Do ye call 't onreasonable to keep flies out of the kitchen w'en ther wuss 'n the plagues uv Egypt ; an' to keep draughts off 'n the bread dough, an' but w'ats the use 'n talkin' V" She had retreated to her kitchen door by this time, and turned to hurl at her venerable tormentor a question which she was wont to shout at him many times a day. " I'd jist like to know w'at doors 'er made fer, ef not to shet ?" "Ho, ho," laughed Dan, clasping himself in his arms, and rolling his body in his usual way when greatly amused ; "ho, ho ! Dat's zactly wat de ants tink about it, Sary Ann ! Wy didn't yo' start out wid dat quest'n, an' den yo' needn't 'v axed nuffin' 'tall." A TOUR THROUGH A TEXAS ANT-HILL. 271 When the amusement which this little episode pro- duced had subsided, I resumed : "At first I contented myself with looking for these gates in the near vicinity of the central mound or bed, but I soon found that there were many more openings. Indeed, one scarcely knew where he might stumble upon a group of the little miners crowding in busy groups out of holes in the grass, carrying pellets of earth, the product of their underground excavations. I never saw any but the smaller forms or minims en- gaged in this service of digging. They were night workers, and at times, as I moved over the ground thirty or forty feet from the central live-oak mound, I would see shining in the lantern-light among the grass a white ' dumping ' which showed where a bevy of masons were at work. They had tapped the white adobe clay that lies several feet underneath the upper soil, and the nature of the pellets which they were cart- ing out showed that they were cutting rooms and gal- leries in that stratum. The accumulation outside the opening presented quite the appearance of a mimic railroad dumping, with a gang of laborers at work ; the minims issued from the cavernous shadows trembling under the weight of the white pellets borne before and above their heads, crossed the heap until the edge was reached, and then ' dumped ' their load. It was quite a comical sight to see some of them at this point. They raised themselves upon their hind legs, thrust their heads over the edge, and with a saucy jerk flung down the bit of clay. Others would put a fore-paw to s 272 A TOUR THROUGH A TEXAS ANT-HILL. 273 either side of the face, and striking forward with the legs, accelerate the movement of the pellet. Others, again, contented themselves with simply thrusting the head beyond the margin of the dump and dropping their load from the jaws. Here is a sketch of one of these mason groups engaged on a dumping." (Fig. 94.) u Certainly these little fellows have amazingly inter- esting parts," remarked Penn Townes ; "but they must be a great plague to the horticulturist. Is noth- ing done to destroy the creatures ?" "Oh, yes, there are various ways for their destruc- tion ; indeed the formidable nature of the insects' depredations has developed a class of men whose special business is to exterminate them. I heard of one at Austin, who had long followed the business of digging out nests, and was known as the ' Old Ant Man. ' I saw some of his work great holes, the size of a small cellar, from which vast formicaries had been literally dug out. I heard of another person who, being of an inventive turn, had devised a machine which dispenses with the laborious method of the old Austin ant man. I was fortunate enough to get one of his circulars, and here it is, with the wood-cut to illustrate the mode of operation. The cut, to be sure, is of a most primitive type, and looks as though it also might have been manufactured by the inventor of the machine. But it is very interesting, if not artistic, for it gives us some insight of an ant-bed, as seen by an experienced practical observer. Of course he has only made a rough diagram of a nest-interior, but you 274 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. see that it shows a network of galleries, uniting caves of various sizes, just as I have described it. (Fig. 95.) " The * Insect Destroyer ' works about in this wise : FIG. 95. A PATENT ANT EXTERMINATOR. FROM THE INVENTOR'S CIRCULAR. alternate layers of ignited charcoal and sulphur or similar materials are laid in a hollow dug around one of the gates, and surrounded by a 'smoke chamber.' In one case a bellows, in another an air-pump, is attached to this chamber, and as the combustibles are blown into a flame, the gas thus generated is also forced down the galleries into the rooms, and of course suffocates the ants. The inventor, as you see, here advertises ' the largest bed of Cutting Ants completely destroyed in twenty to forty minutes.' " " Dear me !" exclaimed Abby, " that is surely a fell A TOUR THROUGH A TEXAS ANT-HILL. 275 destroyer ! He must have got this hint of exter- minating emmet cities by raining fire and brimstone upon them, from the story of Sodom and Gomorrah ! But see ! here is a confirmation of your account of the location of gates at distant points ; our Texas artist has put little puffs of smoke curling up from holes way out here in the field." " Does the machine work satisfactory V" asked Hugh. "Keally, I cannot tell you, though I tried to ascer- tain that fact. But, if you have a mind to experi- ment, note the advertisement : ' Price, for Farm-Right and Machine, all Complete, $20.' " " Ther's nothin' to expurmint on," answered Hugh, laughing, ' ; aroun' this ole farm, 'cept mole runs and a few rat holes aroun' the barn ; an' I reckon it ud hardly pay to import a colony uv cuttin' ants jest to expurmint on iliem.'*' 1 u I am sure that I wouldn't begrudge the money," said Aunt Hannah, " if the inventor would guarantee that his machine can smoke out our red house-ants." " Red ants, Aunt Hannah !" exclaimed the Mistress. "You surprise me! I thought there wasn't enough encouragement in the way of stray crumbs of any sort around your house to justify even a red ant in venturing upon the premises." "Catherine Mayfield," responded Aunt Hannah, with a little show of warmth, u thee must know that the matter of dirt has nothing to do with the presence of ants. They are tidy creatures enough and know how to pick up a living i the tidiest housekeeper's cup- 276 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. boards. There are some insects, I grant thee, whose presence is a proof of uncleanliness, but it is no discredit to any houseekeeper to have red ants at times." "An' that's the mortal truth, Aunt Hanner," re- marked Sarah, who had been again allured from the kitchen shadows by the nature of the conversation. u I've tried no end uv scourin' an' scrubbin' ; an' after I'd lied my closets all swep' an' garnished, and pol- ished to boot, along ud come them pesky mites uv critters, like the cast out devils in the Scripter, an' ud enter in bringin' ther neighbors with 'em, an' make things wuss 'n ever. For my part I don't see w'at sick any miles wuz made fer, nohow !" Having thus delivers*! her mind and started a problem that has puzzled wiser heads, she returned to her seat at the kitchen stove. CHAPTER XV. THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH. THE subject of two of ouj: most interesting Conver- sationsthe Music of Insects was introduced by a casual discussion between Sarah, Hugh and Dan. The autumn air, ever since our advent to the old farm, had been full of the shrilling of crickets, and the noisy vocalization of katy-dids. As the Fall advanced the notes grew fewer and fainter. Silence fell upon the air after the light, early frosts, which was broken once more when the returning warmth of October's mellow suns allured the insects from their refuge in holes, under stones and in crevices of trees. The call of the katy-did at last ceased ; the crickets creaked on through the dreamy haze of Indian summer, then fell into silence over all the fields, leaving only here and there a for- tunate adventurer to push his way into human habita- tions, and from the shelter of friendly wall-crannies or the warmth of a log-fire figure with his monotonous chirrup as the "Cricket on the Hearth." (Fig. 96.) One evening Hugh and Dan were sitting on the bench beside the back-kitchen door, smoking their pipes and exchanging views upon the merits and demerits of in- sects of various sorts. One of the pleasant results of our Conversations has been to supply our regular and 277 278 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. occasional workmen with a theme for intelligent discus- sion. We have been surprised as they themselves have been to see how much they have been stimulated to observe the natural objects and phenomena which con- tinually fall in their way. Before this fall these had been nearly disregarded, or passed with a careless eye, and usually with a wrong idea of their nature and re- lations. ISTow, everything about the farm, especially of an insect kind, is sharply scrutinized. These obser- vations are compared and canvassed among them- selves, and often referred to me for decision and further information. We congratulate ourselves on this result, because whatever quickens the intellectual life of working people, or induces them to close and careful observa- tion of matters around them, and deepens their interest in the world through which they move, goes very far to raise the quality of the laborers and enhance the value of their service. Certainly, this is an incidental result ; one, indeed, that we had not counted much upon ; but the fact that the happiness and intelligence of my humble friends have thus been promoted has been a strong stimulus to me to persist in my course. One of these discussions was in full progress between Hugh and Dan on the evening to which I allude. Sarah was busy at the kitchen table that stood by the open window just above the bench on which the men sat, and so could join in the conversation without inter- rupting her work. A lull in the talk gave her an oppor- tunity to change the subject to one on which she THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH. 279 evidently had strong views crickets. She took her stand on the kitchen stoop, for better effect in uttering her opinion, and with hands (one of which grasped the dish- towel) resting in a favorite at- titude upon her hips, she began : "It's all werry well to talk PIG. 96. THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH. about the peert habits an' sich uv them critters, but ther's one inseck that I hain't no use fer no how, and thet's the cricket." "Wy, w'at's the matter 'th the cricket?" asked Hugh. "Its etarnal creafc, crea/r, cree-eek I That's w'at's 280 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. the matter ! I can't abide it. 'T seemed to me that ther wus a dozen uv 'em in my room last night, an' I never closed my eyes a blessed minit fer the noise they made. Tho', fer thet matter, I reckon ther' wan't more'n one atter all. But, lawsamassy ! w'at a cree- cree-cree-in'' it did keep up !" The cook bent forward, and made such an odd, em- phatic, and indignant imitation of the cricket's chirrup that the men laughed aloud. "Oh, yes ; it's mighty nice fer folks as sleeps like posts 'n pillars to laugh at others, but if you wus as restless o' nights as I am, an' 'ad been robbed uv a whole blessed night's sleep, ye'd laugh on t'other side uv your mouths, I kin tell you." Sarah was notoriously a sound sleeper, but that fact did not prevent her from indulging an infatuation which has fallen upon many wiser people, of lengthen- ing a few wakeful moments into as many hours. It is curious how people lose the power of computing time in the dark ! " But that isn't the wust o' crickets ther noise ain't," continued Sarah. " I'd most as lief hear a hoot- owl ur a whip-poor-will under my windy a-nights as hev a cricket a-creak-creakin' in my room. It's an omen uv death to some one uv the family, ur some near relation, and it jest sets me all uv a chill to hear 'em. I'd like to kill the whole nasty, coffin-creakin' brood ! Thet's my opinion about crickets !" u Well, Sarah !" said Hugh, putting a cloud of smoke into the air, " if that is so, I guess there mus' be an THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH. 281 awful mortality goin' on purty stiddy among folks's re- lations in these parts, fer I never know'd a Fall around here that the crickets didn't holler like the nation. Wy the fields's full uv 'em, and some uv 'em alluz manage to creep in doors. Now, fer my part, I alluz heerd tell that the cricket was rather lucky'n other- wise." "So'tis, Sary Ann, so't is," said Dan. "Yo'sall out dar 'boout de crickets." " Wat do you know about crickets, Fd like to know ?" exclaimed Sarah, evidently scenting a contro- versy. "I knows a heap, Sary Ann a heap I" was the re- joinder. The old man took a deep whiff of tobacco, then folded his arms over his knees, lowered his body upon his arms, and shutting his eyes, dropped into a droning, subdued tone, as though he were speaking to some one in the air. 11 Wen I was a pickaninny, in ole Marylan'," he said, "not mo'n knee high to a duck, my mammy a Yirginny woman she wuz wunst cought me killin' a cricket. I kin see des's plain's day de awful look on 'er face es she grabbed me, en signed de cross ober me, en den shuk me tel I farly chatter'd. u 'Doan ye nebber do dat agane, chile,' she said. She wuz so skeered thet she panted fer breaf, and could skarcely speak a word. 'I know ye done 't widout a-thinking, but hit's awful wrong to kill crickets, 'spec'lly dem as 's in dohs, Dey's de sperits uv ole 282 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. folkes, honey ! : She drapped her bref en spoke 'n a whisper 'et farly made my blood run cold. ' Dat's w'at dey is, chile ole folkses w'ats dead'n gone, en done come back to sit in dar ole co'ner by de kitchen hearth. Dey hadn't otter be harmed, en woe's dem w'at kills 'em.' Dat's jes w'at she said, en I 'member hit es though it happened yestahday." Dan slowly raised himself, took a deep, long pull at his pipe, then closing his eyes, again resumed in a low, solemn tone: "Dat bery winter my mammy died! an' to make t'ings wus-'n-wus, de nex' summer ole Mars sot all his niggers free, 'en we uus uz moved up hyar inter Pennsylvany. Hit alms 'peared to me, ahter dat, ez dough I wuz 'sponsible somehow fer po' mammy's def, en fer hevin' to leave ole Marylan', too. I's been back dar sence, but my ole 'oman she wouldn't stay ; but dar's no kentry like a-dat. Dat's w'y I says, Sary Ann, et I knows a heap aboot crickets. An' I cZoes, I kin tell ye !" Sarah was silenced. She was so keenly sensitive to the class of emotions that Dan's tale was calculated to stir up, that she sat down upon the stoop quite sub- dued. Hugh Bond, however, was not unucli^given to superstition. He had, indeed, imbibed some of the notions current among his class, but held them in a very superficial way, more as an indifferent habit of thought than with any sincerity of faith. Dan's story, therefore, made no serious impression upon him. In- deed he was rather amused by the manner of his old companion, and the effect of his tale upon Sarah, THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH. 283 At last he broke the silence : " Well, Dan, that's certainly a solemn account of things. But, accordin' to my mind, you hain't made out a very clear case agin the crickets. It looks to me about as broad's long, an' a leetle more so. If the crickets wuz responsible fer affairs at all, the loss uv your mammy is purty well balanced by the freein' uv all your master's slaves. You don't 'pear to reckon much on that, I 'low ; but, I rether 'spect thet you wouldn't find many uv the party to agree with you ; an' I 'magine you'd sing another tune yourself ef you'd had to take the changes and chances uv a slave's life. "I remember hearin' somethin' uv this talk about crickets w'en I was a boy, but as I recolleck it was kind of betwixt an' between your notion and Sarah's. It was about like this : If crickets has been livin' in a house fer a long time, an' then up an' leaves uv a sudden, it's a sign that some evil '11 befall the family, p'r'aps the death uv some member. But then, on the contrary, the return uv these insecks after they've been absent is a sign uv good luck ; in fac', I alms heerd that the very presence uv crickets wuz counted lucky. " But the way I look at it, there's a heap o' humbug about the whole thing, not to call it wus'n that. Now, jist think a minit. Here we are, callin' ourselves Christian folks, an' believin' in a Providence thet rules the world. An' yit we sit down an' talk uv the Father Almighty Ruler uv Heav'n an' earth turnin' roun' and killin' off a poor ole woman all along uv an innocent baby killin' a cricket. Fer my part I hain't no notion 284 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. that the Lord consults crickets ur any other sort uv bug about the gover'ment uv human beins. But supposin' we ax Mr. May field about this matter. He's chock full uv all kin's uv inseck larnin', an' '11 straighten it out fer us." So it came about that the crickets were made the sub- ject of an evening's discourse, and the topic broadened out into "Insect Music." Fortunately, Dr. Goodman had an engagement to preach and conduct a children's service in the "Blue Church," a free place for public religious service in our neighborhood, and as he was to be our guest, drove over Saturday afternoon, and was thus present at our Conversation. "Without stopping at present," I began, " to settle the points raised concerning the popular notions about crickets, I would like you first of all to know something about the natural history of the insects themselves. They belong to the sub-order Orthoptera, which maybe briefly characterized as having free biting mouth parts, with highly developed organs of nutrition and diges- tion. The first pair of wings are somewhat thickened to protect the broad net-veined hinder pair which fold up like a fan upon the abdomen, and the hind legs are large and adapted for leaping. The larvae and pupse are both active, and closely resemble the imago or perfect insect. All the species are terrestrial, having no quali- fications for water life, and the most typical forms have remarkable powers of flight, besides leaping powerfully. The grasshopper is the type of the group, and some of its best-known forms are the crickets, grasshoppers, THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH 285 locusts, mole-crickets, katydids, cockroaches, walking- sticks or spectres, and mantis or soothsayers." " Why are these insects called Orthoptera ?" asked Abby. FIG. 97. WHITE CRICKETS, MALE AND FEMALE, FROM NATURE. REDUCED ONE-THIRD. " The word is composed of two Greek words ort/ios, straight, and pteron, a wing. The Doctor is quite familiar with the first of these in the theological com- 28G TENANTS Of AN OLD FARM, pound orthodoxy. The name ' straight wings ' is given because their wings, when not in use, are folded lengthwise in narrow plaits like a fan, and are laid straight along the top or sides of the back. You will notice this by looking at these prepared specimens, which I have brought for our use this evening. We have several species, natives of our section, representing three genera, and besides these the common European house-cricket (Gryllus domesticus), which has figured so largely in song, story, and superstition, has been im- ported and domesticated in some parts of the country. These differ quite widely in their habits, some being solitary, some social, some dwelling in the ground, some living upon trees, some nocturnal, others loving the day. " The story of their development is about as follows : Most of them deposit their numerous eggs in the ground, making holes for their reception with the long spear-pointed piercers with which the females are pro- vided for this purpose. The eggs are laid in the autumn, and do not appear to be hatched until the fol- lowing summer. One of our species, the White Climb- ing Cricket (CEcanthus niveus], differs from her sisters in egg-placing (ovipositing}. She makes several perfora- tions in the tender stems of plants, and in each punc- ture thrusts two eggs quite to the pith. These are hatched about midsummer, and the } r oung immediately issue, from their nests and conceal themselves among the thickest foliage of the plant. This kind of cricket inhabits the stems and branches of shrubs and trees, THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH. 287 concealing itself in the day time among the leaves or in the flowers. It is to this hahit that the generic name is due ((Ecantlius), a word which means inhabiting flowers. (Fig. 97.) " After hatching, the young crickets, in common with all the Orthoptera, very closely resemble the adult in- sects in form, and differ from them chiefly in wanting wings. They move about and feed precisely like their parents, but moult or change their skins repeatedly be- fore they come to their full size. This corresponds to the grub or larval stage in other insects. " The next stage is also quite different from that of moths, butterflies, and beetles. These insects, you have already learned, pass into a state of inactivity and rest, in which they lose the grub-like or larval form which they had when hatched from the egg, and be- come the pupa or crysalis. This resembles a little more nearly the mature form, but is soft, whitish, and with the undeveloped wings and legs incased in a thin, transparent skin, which impedes all motion." " Do we understand you to say," asked the Doctor, " that the cricket does not pass through the crj^salis stage ?" " Precisely. On the contrary, in the pupa state crickets do not differ from the young and from the old insects, except in having the rudiments of wings and wing-covers projecting, like little scales, from the back near the thorax." " And is that the case with all the Orthoptera V" "Yes; grasshoppers, katydids, locusts, and all the 288 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. rest have the same peculiarity in their development. These Orthopterous pupae are active and voracious, and increase greatly in size, which is not the case with insects that are subject to a complete transformation, for such never eat or grow in a pupa state. If you will catch a dozen grasshoppers and locusts at a venture, in a mid-summer field, you may easily notice these differences in size and in the length of wings, showing the adult from the less mature forms. When fully grown the Orthoptera cast off their skins for the sixth or last time, and then appear in the adult or perfect state, fully provided with all their members, with the exception of a few kinds, which remain wingless. In fact, the slight changes which crickets and all the Or- thoptera undergo in their progress to maturity are nothing more than a successive series of moultings, during which their wings are gradually developed. " " I have seen it stated," said Abby, " that we have no house-crickets in America. And indeed I cannot re- member ever to have heard them in-doors in my native State, Massachusetts." "Bar's plenty uv em in ole Marylan', 'tany rate," observed Dan ; " dat am a fac', I shore yo' fiel'-crickets en house-crickets, too. En es to bein' hyar in Pennsyl- vany, jes yo' ax Sary Ann dar ! Wy deys lots on 'em in dis hyar ole place !" " Yes, and there is nothing better known to the coun- try people of our border states than the ' Cricket on the Hearth ;' I have often met them in the West inhabiting chimney places and first-floor apartments of dwellings. THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH. 289 My experience of old Pennsylvania houses in autumn is not very extensive, but I have met them here, and know certainly that they abound." "I have never passed a winter," said the Doctor, " without hearing their music in our parsonage, and I have often heard it in my various preaching tours while domiciled in country hotels and houses." "Hark! "cried the Mistress, springing to her feet. The suddenness of the movement and the sharpness of the exclamation startled us all into silence. Every eye was turned wonderingly upon the Mistress, who stood erect in the ruddy glow of the hickory-wood fire, pointing with one arm toward the upper corner of the chimney. " Crick-crr-rr-ick ! rr-r-rick /" The silence was broken by a shrill, creaking note issuing apparently from a pot of artificial flowers that stood on one side of the broad stone mantle-piece. It was the " Cricket on the Hearth !" A merry laugh and a hearty round of applause from clapping hands greeted the advent of the little musi- cian whose timely note had now settled the question which the Schoolma'am had raised. Old Dan looked up from his low perch, and rolled his eyes and rocked his body in ecstasy. " Dar it be, dar it be 1" he exclaimed. " Dar's good luck shore to de noo family in de ole house. De sperits uv de ole folks hes come back, en dar's a blessin in it ! Hi, yi 1 Ho, ho, ho !" Dan's speech awoke a fresh burst of merriment, in 290 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. the midst of which Aunt Hannah's reproving voice was heard : " Daniel, Daniel ! thee is too provoking with thy childish superstitions. Thee has been taught better than that by the good Friends who once sat by this hearth-stone, and whose spirits are in a Better Home or they would surely grieve over thy folly." "Well, Aunt Hannah," I said, interrupting the si- lence which this remark had caused, "wemusn't be too hard upon Dan. You know the proverb, ' It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks.' At all events we are much obliged to our little friend in the chimney corner for this very remarkable and timely contribution to our conversation. For my part I shall accept it as a good omen, without endorsing Dan's peculiar notion as to 'sperits.' " Aunt Hannah shook her head soberly ; but the Mis- tress looked up with a happy and approving glance, and I turned once more to our subject. "Crickets, are for the most part, nocturnal and soli- tary insects. That is, they live alone, concealing them- selves by day, and come from their retreats to seek their food and their mates by night. They sit at the doors of their caves and chirrup away for hours together. The hearth-cricket belongs to this class. Our common species are the short-winged Gryllus ( Gryllus abbreviates Serville), which is about three-quarters of an inch long, of a black color, with a brownish tinge at the base of the wing-cover, which is sometimes wanting in the male ; the Black Cricket, or Pennsylvania Gryilus (Gryllus Pennsylvanicus Burmeister), which is quite black, and THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH* 291 measures six-tenths of an inch in length (Fig. 98) ; and Gryllus negledus Scudder, which differs from the last- named by having a shorter ovipositor. " Then there are the field-crickets. Besides the white climbing cricket ((Ecanthus), which I have mentioned, FIG. 98. BLACK CRICKETS (GRYLLUS NIGER), FROM NATURE, REDUCED ONE-FOURTH. there is a wingless species (Nemobius vittatus), the Striped Cricket. It is very small, about four-tenths of an inch long, and varies in color from dusky brown to rusty black. This is a social species whose individuals associate in great swarms, feed in common, frequent our meadows and road-sides, and so far from shunning 292 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. daylight, seem to be as food of it as other crickets are of darkness. " Now we are ready to consider how and why the crickets make their music. The old insects, for the most part, die on the approach of cold weather ; but a few survive the winter by sheltering themselves under stones, or in holes secure from the access of water. Of these are the solitary stragglers who make their way into our houses, and warmed up by the genial fire to some dim suggestion of summer, are awakened into a sense of their forlorn estate, and creak out their loneliness to some imagined mate. The same sounds are heard over all our fields, and almost without cessation from twi- light to dawn during our autumn months. There is no music in summer, for pairing does not begin until Fall, and the cricket's music is a love-call. It is the male's signal to his mate, and if ever there was a persist- ent, vociferous and self-satisfied serenader it is he." (Fig. 99. ) " Do you tell us that the female doesn't sing ?" asked Abby, with some surprise. "Neither males nor females sing, for the insects have no vocal organs. But the gift of music, such as it is, is bestowed upon the male alone. "Whether Madam Cricket is a loser thereby may be doubted, but the human species is the gainer ; for, if Nature had en- dowed both sexes with the power of shrilling, the night discords would have been scarcely bearable." "Does that fact apply to all Orthoptera ?" asked the Doctor. FIG. 99. Tim WHITE CRICKET'S SERENADE. 294 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. " Yes, grasshoppers, katy-dids and locusts all keep their music-making among the males." "What a strange contrast with the human family !" said Penn. " With us now the sweetest singers are always of the fairer sex." " Are you quite sure of that ?" suggested the Doctor. "Is not that statement drawn from your courtesy rather than from the actual facts ? If one were to fol- low the subject throughout the various races of men, or even trace it among civilized nations, it might be found that at least the chief music-makers of our own species are of the male sex. Certainly, it cannot be questioned that the great masters of music are and have been men. In the more perfect and complex organization of man- kind it is a matter of course that the song-gift should be largely shared by the female ; but the primative order of ]STature, as Mr. Mayfield has shown it to us in the male insects, is probably so far preserved as to give man superiority over woman as a music-making creature a superiority which is most unquestionable in the mat- ter of instrumental music. It occurs to me, however, that there is here an analogy even more curious and striking. It is remarkable that among mankind also music has ever found and still finds one of her widest spheres of use in affairs of the heart. It is the natural expression of the deepest passion that men as well as insects know love. The soul of music is emotion, and the profound passions of love, religion, and joy of victory have ever been voiced in rythmic speech and melo- dious notes." THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH. 295 "I have been thinking," observed Perm, apparently addressing himself to his mother, "that if music has such a noble origin and use in nature as to utter the love of one creature for another, the testimony which our people the Friends bear against it might well be reviewed." " Our people," answered Aunt Hannah, " bore their testimony chiefly against the unspiritual and carnal use of music in the worship of God, and I do not perceive that the world has ceased to have need for a clear testi- mony in that particular. Perhaps our fathers carried it a little too far when they opposed the private use of music, but thee knows that human nature is apt to go to extremes, and the wise and good men of old chose to be at least on the safe side. "I will not pretend to give an opinion upon the views of our learned friend the Doctor. They may be true ; but I .can say that I know people who have a very in- tense power of loving who have no music in their souls ; and some who can sing to the fullest admiration of the world's people who are as shallow in their aflfectional natures as a babbling brook. Now, I wouldn't expect thee, Penn, if thee should ever fall in love, to vent thy feelings in a moonlight serenade, for thee knows thee can't tell 'Yankee Doodle' from 'Old Hundred,' or 'Home, Sweet Home 'from 'Rosin the Bow.' " Penn blushed deeply under this home thrust, while his mother continued : " And yet I know that thee has a very deep and tender nature. But all this is out of place, perhaps, and, if I am not mistaken, out of point, THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH. 297 too. For what argument can one draw to any subject pertaining to music from the discordant, ear-piercing creaking of a cricket ? Quaker as I am, I would be sorry to dignify such noise by so high a title." u Oh, no !" exclaimed the Mistress, " don't say that ! On the contrary, I love the cricket's chirrup, and think it very sweet music, indeed. But there is no account- ing for tastes, and no reconciling them in this matter as in many others. What is music for one person is clamor and discord to another." u Dat is jes so !" said Dan, who appeared to be much impressed by the last remark. U I was remarkin' dat t'other day wen some one sayed dar wahn't no music en a conk-shell. Now, fer my part, w'en I's hungry and tired wurkin en de harves' fiel' and Sary Ann comes out to de ba'n ya'd, an blows dat conk uv hern fer dinna', an' de toot-too-too ! comes a rollin' ober de fiels, hit seems to me dar's no music out ob Canaan et's sweet- er 'n dat. Dafs de kin' ob cricket on de hearf dat suits my taste jes' at dem times." Sarah scarcely knew whether to receive as compli- mentary or the reverse Dan's comparison of herself and Irer conch-shell to an insect that she detested ; but finally joined in the laugh which the conceit had occa- sioned. By-the-way, this old-fashioned dinner-call which used to be popular among farmers' wives in early days in Pennsylvania, is one of Sarah's particular vanities. The conch is her own propert} r , and she brought it with her to our service, pleading for its use at least 298 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. when the workmen were afield. The oddity pleased the Mistress, and indeed we all now have a sort of pride in Sarah's shell, which she sounds not only with thorough gusto but with the skill of a Triton. In my rambles I have often heard with high satisfaction its midday or evening notes, mellowed by distance and associated with home and good fare, echoing over the meadows and through the waving corn. Sarah keeps it suspended upon a rustic bracket of oak-forks above the kitchen hearth, so that Dan's metaphor had a special appositeness which the family at least appreciated. " Isn't it time for us to go back from our digression ?" I suggested. "If you are quite satisfied with your philosophizing over the cricket's music, suppose we turn our attention to the question how the music is made." CHAPTER XYI. MI7SIC-MAK1NG INSECTS. THE instruments by which the male cricket produces the sounds which have given such celebrity to this insect, form a part of the wing-covers. The base or horizontal and overlapping portion of these organs near the thorax is convex, and marked with large, strong, and irregularly curved veins. These veins run through the middle portion of the wing. When the cricket chirrups or shrills he raises the wing-covers a little and shuffles them together lengthwise, so that the projecting veins of one are made to grate against those of another. If we seek an analogy for this action among musical instruments we must select the violin, whose sounds are produced by the rubbing of the bow against the strings, or the banjo, harp and guitar, whose sounds are evoked by striking the fingers upon the strings. In fact it is quite as much like a file or a watchman's rattle. " Do all insects make their music in the same way?" asked Abby. " The sound-producing organs are constructed on the same general principle, but there is much difference in details. In the katydid for example, the musical in- struments are a pair of taborets. Most of you are quite 300 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. familiar with the note of this insect, which is one of the best known sounds of our autumn evenings. The ap- pearance of the insect is less familiar. Here it is. (Fig. 101). This is a large insect, measuring from the head to the ends of the wing-covers more than an inch and a half; the body is an inch long, is of a pale green color, the wing-cover and wings being somewhat darker. Its thorax is rough like shagreen, and has somewhat the form of a saddle, being curved downward on each side } and rounded and slightly elevated behind. The wings are rather shorter than the wing-covers, and the latter are very large, oval and concave, and inclose the body within their concavity, meeting at their edges above and below, something like the two sides or -valves of a pea-pod. The veins are large, very distinct, and netted like those of some leaves. There is one vein of larger size running along the middle of each wing-cover resem- bling the mid-rib of a leaf. "The taborets are formed by a thin and transparent membrane, stretched in a strong, half oval frame in the triangular overlapping portion of each wing-cover. When the male wishes to sound his call, he opens and shuts the wing-covers so that the frames of the taborets rub rapidly and violently against each other. The mechanism of the taborets and the concavity of the wing-covers reverberate and increase the sound to such a degree that it may be heard in the stillness of the night at the distance of a quarter of a mile. " The music of the katydid is certainly remarkable considering how it is produced. It consists of two or FIG. 101. KATYDIDS t MALE ( UPPEU FIGURE) AND FEMALE. NATURAL SIZE. FROM NATURE. 301 302 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. three distinct notes, almost exactly resembling articu- lated sounds. These correspond to the rapidity with which the wing-covers are shifted across each other, and the note produced is very well expressed in the popular name of the insect." "Are the katydids nocturnal insects like the cricket ?" asked Abby. "Yes ; during the daytime they are silent, and con- ceal themselves among the leaves of trees ; but at the approach of twilight they quit their lurking-places and mount to the tops of the trees in which they live. Then the males begin the tell-tale call with which they enliven their silent mates. The noisy babble breaks forth from neighboring trees, until all the groves at last resound with the rival notes of ' Katy-did it, katydid /' The amorous concert continues the live-long night, and at the break of day the serenaders creep back to their leafy covert." " What is the scientific name of the katydid ?" asked the Doctor. "It is somewhat formidable Platyphyllum perspicil- latum ; but the generic name, which means broad-wing, is quite expressive, as you may see by a glance at the insect. " The story of katydid's development is but a repeti- tion of the cricket's. It is found in the perfect state during the months of September and October, at which time the female lays her eggs. These are about an eighth of an inch in length, and resemble tiny, oval bivalve shells in shape. The insect lays them in two MUSIC-MAKING INSECTS. 303 contiguous rows along the surface of a twig, the bark of which has been previously shaved off or made rough with her piercer. Each row consists of eight or nine eggs, placed somewhat obliquely and overlapping each other a little, and they are fastened to the twig with a. gummy substance. In hatching, the egg splits open at one end and the young insect creeps through the cleft. Its history after that, as I have said, quite resembles that of other Orthoptera." "Are the katydids and crickets injurious to vegeta- tion ?" asked Penn. " The katydids do little harm ; but crickets when they abound do much injury, eating the most tender parts of plants, and even devouring roots and fruits when they can get at them. Melons, squashes and po- tatoes are often eaten by them, and the quantity of grass that they destroy must be great, judging by tkfe immense numbers which are sometimes seen in our meadows and fields. They are not strict vegetarians, however, but devour other insects when they can over- power them." "Are not crickets, like katydids, named from the character of the note which they sound ?" inquired Abby. "Undoubtedly," answered the Doctor ; "and it is a curious fact, and one quite suggestive as to the natural origin of a certain class of words, that the note of this insect has suggested its name in several other lan- guages. The French m-m, the Dutch krekel, the Welsh cricell and cricella, are, like the English cricket, 304 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. evidently derived from the creafc-ing sounds which the insect makes." " Speaking of this community of ideas among va- rious nations reminds me," I said, " of an odd trick at which I saw Harry and one of his little friends engaged a few evenings ago while crossing the Brook Meadow. They were fishing for crickets ' "Fishing!" exclaimed the Mistress. ".Didn't you tell us that they and other Orthoptera were not at all adapted to the water, which they shun ?" " True ; and I am glad that the lesson is so well re- membered. The boys' fishing was confined to the earth-holes in which the crickets live. They had ants and flies fastened to a long straw, which they thrust down the hole. The cricket is a combative as well as a musical animal, and can often be brought out of his den simply by intruding the naked straw ; but bait proves an additional attraction. Now, the point worth noting about this is that the French children amuse them- selves by the same method of capturing crickets. In- deed, the fact has given rise to a proverb quite com- mon in France, il est sot comme un grillon he is silly as a cricket ! More than that, as early as the days of Pliny a similar practice was in vogue, for that author tells us that the manner of hunting and catching these insects was to tie a fly at the end of a long hair and let it down into the cricket's hole, first taking the precau- tion to blow away any dust that might prove a refuge for the bait. The cricket spies the fly, seizes and clasps it around, and so they are both drawn forth together." MUSIC-MAKING INSECTS. 305 "That is certainly a curious coincidence," said the Doctor. "And it is a most interesting point to con- sider whether this and such like tricks and games of children have been preserved and distributed by tra- dition, through all these years, and among the various peoples where they obtain, or whether they have sprung up spontaneously in the youthful minds of various na- tions and ages. In either case we have a fact looking towards the common origin and unity of the human race." "Don't forget, Mr. Mayfield," suggested Hugh, "that leetle question between Dan and Sarah as to w'ether crickets bring good or bad luck." " Thanks for the suggestion ; I have not forgotten it. But as this subject is rather more in the line of Dr. Goodman's studies than mine, I took the liberty of re- ferring it to him. Are you ready to respond, Doctor ?" "To be quite candid," he answered, "I have not been able to do very much, although I know there must be a great deal of material scattered through literature, if one could only lay hands on it. However, I have brought a few notes. Gilbert White, in his ' Natural History of Selborne,' an old-fashioned but to me still delightful book, speaks of crickets thus : ' They are the housewife's barometer, foretelling her when it will rain, and are prognostics sometimes, she thinks, of ill or good luck, of the death of a near relative, or the ap- proach of an absent lover. By being the constant com- panion of her solitary hours they naturally become the objects of her superstition.' This appears to decide the 306 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. controversy in favor of both parties, a highly satisfac- tory decision." "There," exclaimed Sarah, whose interest in this point had once more withdrawn her from the shadow of her kitchen door, " didn't I tell you so, Dan ? The cricket's chirp is a sign uv ill luck the death uv a near relation. I knowed I 'uz right !" And she returned in triumph to her seat. "HoP on, Sary Ann!" said Dan, " dat's no fa'r ! Didn't dat aufer 'low dat de cricket brot good luck, too, Doctor ?" "Yes, he certainly does ; and here's more on your side of the question, Dan. Milton, in his ' II Penser- oso,' chose for his contemplative pleasures a spot where crickets resorted, and he speaks of that insect's note as the one token of merriment in the place : ' Where glowing embers through the room Teach light to counterfeit a gloom, Far from all resort of mirth, Save the cricket on the hearth.' 44 Is that the origin of the popular phrase ' Cricket on the hearth ?' " asked Abby. "Eeally I do not know; but it is the source from which it is generally quoted. In the same strain, and more decidedly, the poet Cowper writes, in his * Ad- dress to a Cricket,' chirping on his kitchen hearth : " ' Wheresoe'er be thine abode Always harbinger of good.' "The best-known allusion is found in recent litera- ture. Most readers of Charles Dickens will remember MUSIC-MAKING INSECTS. 307 how he embodies the popular superstition in his little tale ' The Cricket on the Hearth. ' When the carrier's young wife hears the familiar note in the chimney- place, she exclaims : ' It's sure to bring us good for- tune, John ! It always has been so. To have a cricket on the hearth is the luckiest thing in the world !' That seems to be the most prevalent superstition. I also find reference to the peculiar form of the superstition which Hugh Bond remembers. Sir William Jardine alludes to it in The Mirror as common in Dumfries- shire. These are the most interesting points which I have been able to note." " Sary Ann !" exclaimed Dan, wheeling his cricket around, and gazing into the kitchen shadows, " Sary Ann, did yo heah dat ?" There was no reply. u Sary Ann," persisted the old man, " Is yo' done loss yo' tongue ? W'y doan yo' speak up, den ? Hi ! Didn't Itoleyo' so?" But there was no response. Sarah had appropriated her portion of the decision, and was too well satisfied to review the case. Well, she is not alone in this attitude : Why should a man care to hear more testimony, or to have more light, when his opinio i has once been reason- ably well confirmed ? Dan, unable to evoke any response from the oracle of the kitchen, turned back to his place, made a significant gesture upward with his eyes and hands, and chuckled softly to himself. "Are there any superstitions associated with the katydid?" asked the Mistress. 308 TENANTS Of 1 AN OLD FARM. " I am afraid that I must refer that question to Dan," I answered, laughing. "The only items in that line which I ever heard or saw, I received from him. Come, Dan, here's a good chance to air your ghostly learning. Tell us what you know about katydids." Dan was never known to deny himself a good oppor- tunity to talk, and readily assented ; but he felt bound to free himself from what he considered an imputation of illicit knowledge. "De good Lor' forbid, Mars Mayfiel'," he began, "dat I should have anythink to do wid ghos'es. I nebber seed a ghos', bress de Lor' ! I's heern tell uv folks as ud done got dey knowledge from de ebil sperits ; but, sah, I nebber eat ob dat forbidden fruit. No, sah, nebba !" He placed his hands on his knees, sat bolt upright, and uttered the last words with great emphasis, and a comical show of dignity. "All de larnin' I has 'boot dese tings I done larned from ole Marylan' and Virginny folks. I come up hyar w'en I wuz a pickaninny ; but I went back to de ole state, and lived dar five year. Dat's whar I larned aboot sich tings ; not from ghostesses, fore goodness, Mars Mayfiel'! Aboot dem katydids, 'taint much et I know, but dis is hit : If a katydid comes inter de house, dat's a sign, dey say, et a visitor'll soon come widout beiri' 'spected. Ef it sings in de house, dat's a sign some ob de family '11 be shore to hab de gif ob music, like de banjo or pianner, ur dat like. "Den, dar wuz a cur'us story 'boot two sisters wat MUSIC-MAKING INSECTS. 309 fell bof in lub wid one man. I doan' tink dis happen in ole Marylan', but in some kentry ober de sea, I reckon. De gemmen's name wuz Osca', an' de ladies' wuz Blanche an' Kate. Ob course, no man can lub two mars'rs, as de Scripter says, en it stans to reason he can't lub two misses, nudder. So Osca' falls in lub wid Blanche, an' Kate she gits soured, an' falls to hatin' her ole lubber. All ob a sudden Osca' done lay down an' died ; an' seem' dat, Blanche she goes clar crazy, fur she lubbed him powerful, an' raved, an' raved. Dar wuz a great mystry 'boot de whole affah. Nobudy know'd anythink 'boot it but Miss Kate. She know'd mighty well, fur she'd a-killed Osca' herse'f ! " In dem fur-away times dey wahnt no true 'ligion as dey is nowadays, an 1 so de people ob dat kentry dey had a god w'at dey calls Jup'ter. Now, Jup'ter he sees how tings was a-goin', en he done tuk de sperit ob young Osca', wat Kate had a-murdered ; an' wat does he do but turn it inter a katydid ? An' he sots 'im up on de tree-tops war Miss Kate wuz a-walkin' wid some folks. Jes' den dey wur a-talkin' 'boot how suddent like de young man ud died ; an' some un 'lowed he reckoned Osca' mought've bin pizened. " ' Who could a done it ?' he says, awful solemn like. And nobudy answered ; 'kase, yo' see, dar wahnt no 'spicions ob foul play 'gin Miss Kate in de least. Jes' den, in de raids' ob dat solemn silence, de new inseck dat's de sperit ob Osca', yo' know cried out from de tree-top, sharp, en loud, en suddent : ' Katy did it ! Katy did I she did I ' An' dat's de way dat mudda wuz 310 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. a-found out, an' dat's how ebry wicked deed hab a voice cry in' out somewhar agin.it. Par's no use in talkin', mudda will out. Dat's all I know, ladies and gemmen', boot de Katydid." "What became of Miss Kate ?" asked Harry, with a child's natural yearning to hear the end of a story. u Bress yo' heart, honey, dat story stopped jes' a- dar. I nebber heerd no end to it at all. But as Miss Kate wur a white lady, I reckon nothin' wuz ebber done aboot it ; 'less dey woted her non compus, an' shet her up awile. But ef she'd a-been a cullud pusson, I reckon yo' mout a-guessed dey'd a-made short work ob her." " Well, Dan," said the Schoolma'am, " that is a 'very interesting romance, certainly, and it carries an ad- mirable moral. May I ask if these notions are held entirely by your own color in Maryland, or do the whites also hold them ?" " De cullud folks, Miss Abby," answered Dan, "lies many cur'us notions, dat's a fac, '.boot insecks, en aligators, en rabbits, en bars, en all sorts o' beastis. Some ob dem, I reckon, come frum dey native kentry, whar de sperits hes moh' to do wid sech critters, I s'pose, dan ober hyar in dis Christian Ian'. But den de white people has some ob dem berry ' sayins, too. Hit's not all jes' niggah larnin, Miss Abby, no how." It was now time, I thought, to bring back our con- versation to the sphere of Natural History. Taking another insect box from the table, I opened it and FIG. 102. CICADA, FEMALE AND MALE (UPPER FIGURES.) LOCUST (LOWER FIGURES), .^EDIPODA CAROLINA. FROM NATURE. 312 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. began: "Here are specimens of the most famous of all the music-making insects the Harvest-fly, or Cicada. Look at them, Hugh, and then hand the box to your neighbor." (Fig. 102, upper figures.) Hugh glanced at the pinned specimens, and at once exclaimed : " Wy, sir, these haint harvest flies they're locusts." "Are you quite sure, Hugh ?" " Oh, yes, sir ! I've seen thousands uv 'em the seventeen-year locust. An' ther's another kind thet comes every year, or mebbe they're only sort o' strag- glers. But I know 'em well, sir." Several of the company were quite as positive as Hugh in their identification of the insect, and for a moment I found my entomological reputation in peril. "Well," I resumed, "having sufficiently enlisted your attention, I may assure you that you are both right and wrong. You are right, according to the popular name of the insect, but utterly and grossly wrong as to the true title. There is about as much likeness between this creature and a locust as between a horse and a cow. There are few American entomolo- gists who have not often been compelled to explain the wide and fundamental difference between these so- called "locusts" of the United States and the" true locusts" of Holy Scripture and our Far West. The latter (Fig. 102, below) really do often " eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field," as they did in the days of the plagues of Egypt ; while the former having no jaws to eat with, and only a beak to suck MUSIC-MAKING INSECTS. 313 sap with are physically incapable of eating anything at all. "The two kinds of insects do not even belong to the same order, or to the same grand group of orders. The former are "Suckers" (Haustellata) ; the latter are " Biters " (Mandibulata}. The former belong to the order Homoptera, the latter to the order Orthoptera. The former have their front wings glassy and trans- parent ; the latter have them more or less leathery and opaque. The former have a mere apology for antennae, which the general observer would entirely overlook ; the latter have quite conspicuous and rather long antennae. In short, what people call "locusts" in America are called "Cicadas," or " Harvest-flies," in Europe ; and what in the Old World are known as "locusts" are called " grasshoppers" in the United States. This popular error has been the cause of much confusion, and is greatly to be regretted ; but one almost despairs of correcting the absurd blunder, at least in this generation. " We have three or four species of Cicada in our coun- try ; two of these appear annually : a small spring Cicada (Cicada rimosa], which begins to be heard a little before the middle of June ; and the large autum- nal species (Cicada pruinosa], which is probably the best known of all. Then we have two periodical species : that remarkable and famous insect the so-called seven- teen-year locust (Cicada septemdecim], and its close ally, the thirteen-year Cicada (Cicada tredecim). Few animals have so remarkable a history as the two last 314 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. 9 named, but before we consider that, let us look at their musical organs, and compare them with those of the cricket and katydid. " The males alone are musical, and their well-known rattling buzz is a love-call to their silent mates. The instruments by which the sounds are produced are a pair of kettle-drums, as they may be called, situated one on each side of the body. These can be plainly seen here just behind the \vings. These drums are formed of convex pieces of parchment-like membrane, gathered into numerous fine plaits, and are lodged in cavities on the sides of the bodies behind the thorax. They are not played upon with sticks, of course, but by muscles or cords fastened to the inside of the drums. When these muscles contract and relax, which they do with great rapidity, the drum-heads are alternately tightened and loosened, recovering their natural con- vexity by their own elasticity. Our Cicada may, there- fore, be called a drummer." "But Mr. May field," interrupted Harry, "a drum- head don't tighten and loosen in that way. You tighten it up, and keep it tight, or it wouldn't drum at all." "Of course, Harry," I replied, "we can only speak in figures when we compare the sound-producing or- gans of insects to musical instruments of any sort. All I mean is that the principle upon which the Cicada's note is produced is like that upon which sounds are brought out of a drum-head. Let us see if this is not so. Here is a sheet of tin which I have laid upon the MUSIC-MAKING INSECTS. 315 table to illustrate my point. It is not flat, but is bent into little rolls and hollows. I put my finger upon one of the elevated parts, and push it down, and remove my finger, so. It makes a loud, rattling noise. I re- peat the motion rapidly a number of times, and you hear a succession of these sounds." " Certainly they are distinct enough, but they can hardly be called musical," remarked the Mistress, laughing, as the loud clatter of the tin sheet resounded through the room. " True enough ; but is a kettle-drum any more so ?" queried Aunt Hannah. " I am not so much concerned about the sesthetical part of my illustration," I replied, "as the practical. Now, Harry, observe, when the drumstick falls upon the tight drum-head, it pushes it down just as my finger did the tin sheet ; when it is lifted the drum-head springs up again, and that motion produces a sound not unlike that which I have just made. As the skin out of which the drum-head is made is stretched over a hollow cylin- der, or ' barrel,' the vibrations of the air are greatly in- creased, and so also is the intensity of the sound. Do you understand that, Harry?" " I think I do, sir," said the boy. " Very well ; it is quite in this way that the Cicada's note is produced. These convex membranes or drums of which I spoke are the drum-heads. But where are the ' barrels ' over which they are stretched ? Here they are. There are certain cavities within the body of the insect which may be seen on raising two 316 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. large valves beneath the belly, and which are separated from each other by thin partitions having the trans- parency and brilliancy of thin and highly polished glass. In most of our species of Cicada the drums are not visible on the outside of the body, but are covered by convex triangular pieces on each side of the first ring behind the thorax, which must be cut away in order to expose them. Now, if we raise the large valves, of which I spoke, there is seen close to each side of the body the little opening like a pocket in which the drum is lodged, and from which the sound issues when the insect opens the valve." " Sir," said Harry, "you have shown us the drum- head and the drum-barrel, but where are the drum- sticks ?" " You forget ; I have already spoken of them. They are the muscles or cords fastened to the inside of the drums, by which the heads are made to rapidly tighten and loosen. Unfortunately, I cannot show you these without better optical aids than we have here ; but you must take their existence on faith or authority, as one has to do very many things in Natural History. The effect of the rapid alternate tension and relaxation of these drum-stick muscles and the membrane attached to them, is the production of the rattling buzz, which constitutes the familiar music of the cicada. And now that I have given my illustration, I shall ask Harry to give one which he has prepared at my request." Harry blushed and hesitated, but finally took from his pocket an instrument with which my own boyhood MUSIC-MAKING INSECTS. 317 had been quite familiar. It was a little hollow tube of tin, over which a stiff piece of writing-paper was stretched and securely fastened. This Harry called the "buzzer." Through two holes in the paper was drawn a horse- hair, which at the other end was looped around a stick. Harry took his stand in the middle of the room, touched the tip of the stick to his lips, and then rapidly whirled the implement through the air. The hair straightened out, the buzzer revolved, the loop tightened upon and moved around the stick, and amidst the laugh- ter and plaudits of our company ; the room was filled with a shrill, quivering, rattling noise : " Cr-reek ! Cr-r-eek ! cryee-ee-ee-e-e-ick-i-i-ii-ii-ee-ee- eek /" The sound thus produced was an admirable imitation of the cicada's note, and Harry's illustration was warmly applauded as a great success. "Now," said Abby, "you must explain for us the philosophy of Harry's toy. How does it make this noise ?" " The principle is a very simple one. The horse-hair loop rasps against the stick as it is twirled around, the vibrations thus produced are carried along the hair to the stiff paper, which acts as a sounding-board to them. The tube or little box serves as a resonator, to increase the intensity of the tone. The notes, of course, are varied according to the velocity of the 'buzzer.' The toy may be made with a spool, the hole through which is sufficient to make a good resonator." The Doctor had followed Harry's movements with 318 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. FIG. lUa. THE MUSIC OF BOYHOOD, A REMINISCENCE : " WATCH- ING 1HE HOSTS OF INSECTS CREEP OUT OF THE GROUND." unusual interest. There was a pleasant, very pleasant smile upon his lips, and as he gazed into the embers of the hickory-wood fire there was a far-away cast in the eyes. He drummed upon the table with his fingers in an abstracted way, and at last exclaimed : I had dreamed myself quite into " Well, well, well ! MUSIC-MAKING INSECTS. 319 boyhood once more. The old log schoolhouse seemed to be rising there out of the ashes, and I could fancy myself standing among the playmates and companions of three-score years ago alas ! few of them remain now in the flesh ! whirling my toy 'locust,' and watching the hosts of insects creep out of the ground and emerge from the cracked shells which we gathered in handfulls from the trees, among whose branches noisy males were rolling their rattling drums ! (Fig. 103.) Sixty years I Has it been so long ago ? How vividly this little toy's familiar music has revived the memories of those days. Ah ! But excuse me, friends, for obtruding these re- collections upon you. Really, I was carried away for the moment !" He bowed several times in a gentle and deprecating way toward the circle, but amid the radiance that glowed upon his face, I could see two round tears twinkling through his eyelids. Dear good man ! Alas, he, too, since then, has joined the playmates of those early days in " The innumerable caravan which moves To that mysterious realm where each shall take His chamber in the silent halls of death." CHAPTER XVII. "SERMONS IN" ANTS. ON Sunday morning we worshiped in the " Blue Church." Doctor Goodman preached to a little com- pany of the country-folk a sermon whose character was well described by a plain old Scotchman whom I over- heard as the congregation was retiring : " Ah, that was one o' the comfortin' an' helpfu' sort I" I had observed, during one of my summers at Marple, that the Doctor delivered his sermons, which he read quite closely but with remarkable earnestness and force, from manuscripts of a uniform number of pages, bound up like a school copy-book. "Why do I do this ?" he said, laughingly, in answer to my question. " Well, the truth is, I find myself compelled to put a bridle upon my lips. As I grew older, I noticed that I was inclined to prolong my ser- mons to a wearisome length. I therefore took to read- ing ; and in order to keep within due bounds I made trial of the exact number of pages required to occupy the half hour. I then had a lot of these " copy-books " made, each containing that trial number of pages. Now when I have filled my book I stop work, and go into my pulpit quite assured that I will not trespass "SERMONS IN" ANTS. . 321 upon my people's patience. Isn't that a pretty good device to keep a garrulous old parson within bounds ?" The hearty laugh with which the Doctor put the ques- tion showed how much he enjoyed the trick by which he had flanked the infirmities of gathering years, and held the interest of his auditors. A wise winner of souls was lie ! But on this occasion the "copy-book" was left at honi3, and in simple words, delivered with quiet ear- nestness and a tenderness that touched all and melted many hearts, he held up to the people the great love of the All-Father. The text was, " Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. " When it was announced, the Calvanists in the congregation nudged each other, and with significant nods of the head and brightened eyes intimated that they expected a sermon upon "Electing Love," and heartily approved it. The Ar- minians, on the other hand, for the congregation was a mixed one, bristled up, set their faces with a pugnacious cast, and looked at the preacher with the fixed, hard gaze of those who mean to hold fast their own opinions against all comers. As the sermon advanced these countenances changed ; lines of elation and approval, of combativeness and dissent alike faded out, and the faces upturned toward the pulpit wore a common look (varying with the points of the discourse) of interest, assent, hope, religious joy. One might, perhaps, have found the Doctor's theo- logical bent by slight logical soundings ; but it did not so lie upon the surface as to mar the satisfaction of any 822 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. auditor. The Eternity and Infinity of Divine Love- that was his theme. Man pre-existant in the loving thought of God throughout the everlasting past ; man surrounded by the loving care of God in the present ; man throughout the everlasting future, immortal in the rest of God ; man's Redeemer, the highest commenda- tion of the divine love these are great thought*, but simply presented, with quaint and apt illustration, they were not beyond the conception of the humblest mill- hand in the meeting. The morning sermon was a happy preparation for the afternoon service, which, as the Doctor announced, was especially for the young people, although adults were also invited. He well knew that grown-up folk enjoy and profit by such services quite as much as their juniors. They drink in greedily addresses made to the young which they would have resented highly if made to themselves. What a curious compound human nature is ! At three o'clock of the afternoon the approaches to the church were lively with little troops of children, whose bright dresses showed against the green meadows as they came across lots. Farmers came in their bug- gies, germantowns and farm-wagons, . until the cozy horse-sheds in the rear of the edifice were full, and horses had to be unhooked and hitched to the wheels of vehicles halted here and there over the yard. Many of these comers were casual attendants, having various places of worship scattered throughout the country-side, but had gathered to the "Doctor's appoint- 1 ' SERMONS IN ' ' A NTS. 323 ment," as is the goodly fashion ot our rural parts, without respect of religious preference. Even the Friends, who had held their morning worship in the old Springfield Meeting-house, sent a fair delegation, al- though some were still of too tender conscience to wait upon the preaching of a ''hireling minister." Among these was Aunt Hannah ; but it cost the good woman a sore struggle to stay at home, be it said to her credit. Penn Townes, however, was not prevented by such scruples from stopping his smart open buggy at the old farm-gate and driving Abby Bradford to the meeting. The regular attendants at the Blue Church were the teachers and the children of the Sunday-school. The latter were gathered chiefly from the families of the oper- atives in a woolen-mill that stood in an adjacent valley, and a fine paper-mill that occupies a romantic site on the banks of Crum Creek. A few kind arid Christian hearts had been moved with pity over these scattered sheep of the Good Shepherd, and had organized for them a Sabbath-school, which has been maintained, often under sore difficulties, for a number of years. A part of the good Doctor's missionary work was to look after this school, which, however, was strictly a "Union" school, without any denominational bias or connection whatever. The building in which this assemblage was held is worthy of brief notice. It was erected by one of the numerous descendants of Jane Townes, and set apart for- ever to the worship of the Almighty without cost or let to any of whatever denomination, with one important 324 "SERMONS IN" ANTS. 325 exception. Just in front of the pulpit hangs a framed card on which the patron's wish is printed, with this proviso : that no one who denies the proper divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ or the doctrine of the Atone- ment shall ever be permitted to preach in the place. The house was built at the time when the conflict was at its height that divided the Society of Friends into the so-called "Orthodox" and " Hicksite " camps. The feelings awakened by that controversy are crystal- ized in this proviso, and the "Townes Free Church " is free only to orthodox preachers. However, as there are very few persons of a different religious bent in the whole country-side, the prohibition has not proved of much practical disadvantage. The house is built of a blue limestone which, in spite of the ill-fitting coat of whitewash that no\v covers it, shows plainly enough the reason for its popu- lar name, "The Blue Church." It is a plain rectan- gular edifice, with a pitched roof, without spire or belfry. There is a door at either gable, over one of which is placed a rude water-shed. A plain porch covers the front door, which is shaded by a horse- chestnut, upon whose lower branches hangs a hornet's nest. On either side of the door is a marble tombstone. In the north tomb repose the ashes of the venerable builder of the church. A plain slab rests upon low marble walls, and bears the name, age, and following inscription: "Where he was born, there he lived and died. An honest man and a useful citizen." There is 326 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. added the familiar passage from Job : " I know that my Redeemer liveth." A fine large willow tree stands in front, and over- hangs this grave. The tomb on the opposite side is a slab raised upon six marble pillars, and bears the name of a favorite cousin of the patron. Those tombs serve as seats for the rustic congregation while waiting for the commencement of service, and tramps who camp of summer nights in the horse-sheds play cards upon them in the moonlight. The entrance to the church is from the Baltimore Pike by a large wooden gate hung in the stone wall that encloses two sides of the lot. One cor- ner of the churchyard is devoted to burial purposes. Here stands another large weeping -willow, and tall bushes of osage orange and sumach overshadow the wall. Short mounds of buried children fill the space, though larger graves show where the " rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep." In the rank grass and among the vines that here creep over the ground and swathe the graves dwell undisturbed hosts of insects, especially crickets and grasshoppers. (Fig. 105.) Among these the great green grasshopper abounds one of the noisiest of our musical insects, and day and night alike his shrilling is heard among the graves, making this rural u God's-acre" a very garden of insect song. The plain stone building is a pretty object, standing in its two-acre field, embowered among trees. Just across the meadow is a farm, once a country seat of an eminent president of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Ad- joining that, the cupola of "Shady-bank, " a fine SERMONS IN" ANTS. 327 FIG. 105. THE GRASSHOPPER'S DIRGE AMONG THE GRAVES. country home, rises above the tops of a noble grove of trees. Inside, the building is exceedingly plain. It is fash- ioned after the manner of a Quaker meeting-house, hav- ing a " gallery," or long rows of elevated seats along the middle, opposite the door. A pulpit is arranged at the central part of the gallery, beneath which is a chancel- like space, where stand a reed organ and a superintend- ent's desk. Comfortable sofa-benches, with reversible backs, are ranged in front and on either side of the pulpit. In front of the chancel stands a large cannon 328 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. stove, whose long pipe penetrates the- ceiling. The walls are unadorned, and the whole interior is plain enough to suit the severest taste. It was well ornamented, however, on that day, for as we entered, bright faces were turned toward us from every seat and aisle ; even the door spaces were crowded, and anxious eyes peered in from groups that stood in the churchyard outside. In the " gallery," at one side, stood a tall easel, on which was placed a pack- age of large white card-boards. This addition to the usual furniture of the place had excited much curiosity among the audience young and old. Indeed, the curiosity had begun earlier in the day, among the family at the Old Farm ; for, as Hugh lifted the mysterious parcels into the farm-wagon, among the chairs on which his family were seated, there were many wonderings over them. ' Wat on yarth is de Doctor gwain to do wid dem