The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1872-06-20

Pun ~ OSFNO''
immortality upon him, but when
the prayer was made she neglected
to couple Herewith eternal youth;
consequently his blood by age grew
cold, his hair gray, his face wrink-
led. Aurora took pity upon him,
and metamorphosed him into a
Cicada; because the ancients be-
lieved they renewed their youth
annually. The truth is, they, in
common with every other species of
the Gryllus, throw off their outer
covering yearly.
The male among the Cicada is the !
vocalist, thus constituting an excep~
tion to Natures great rule. The
noise it makes is not made by the
wings, as many suppose, but by
means of sort of kettle-drum ap-
paratus, located at the base of the
abdomen. This delicate apparatus
is covered by two oval plates, and
consists of a cavity, containing
plated folds of a parchment-like
membrane, transparent as glass;
these are moved by muscular cords,
yielding the notes. The action is
aided by rapid movement of the
wings, and the sound is rendered
more intense by the resonance of
cavities within the body, protected
by valves. The notes, though
sharp, are loUe notes, made by Sir
Cicada to charm his Madam.
These insects are very numerous
in various parts of the United States
and in Southern Italy, and in the
places where they are found they
do not make their appearance in the
same year. In 1868 they were in
Butler and other western counties
of the State; in 1855 they were in
Warren county. They are said to
be more numerous in oak forests
than elsewhere. If this be true, and
1 think it Is, 1t is because the wood
of the oak is soft, and of course the
female can more easily deposit her
eggs.
According to the observations of
naturalists, the female lays about
500 eggs. With an instrument
which lies close to the bottom of the
abdomen; she .pierces the small
twigs of trees for the purpose of de-
posting the eggs. She lays about
20 eggs in each twig; proceeding
from twig to twig until her task is
accomplished. The eggs are pearl
white, very delicate, and are hatch
ed in from 4 to- weeks. The twigs
pierced, by the insect, wither and
fall to the ground, and this is the
full extent of injury to trees by the
insect in its perfect state.
On being hatched from the egg
the grub or larvae is one-sixteenth o.
an inch long, and in few moments
drops to the ground and buries it.
self beneath the surface by means o.
its fore-feet. Here, although said tC
live on the roots of plants and trees
the injury done is very trifling
scarcely enough to prove that the
little creature lives.
What small proportion of the
eggs ever reach the perfect state Of
the insect. Suppose the greater par
came to perfection, how vast would
be the increase! And suppose they
were TO reach the perfect state il
one year instead of seventeen ? Blu
the eggs are preyed on by other in
sects; the larv@ or grubs are devour
ed as soon as hatched, by ants anC
birds, by toads, frogs, and other rep
tiles; and when at last they ar
turned up by the plow, blackbird
and domestic fowls eat great quan
titles of them; hogs root up tn
ground in search of them. Thu
their numbers are effectually KEEP
down. In 1868, during the Who'll
time the CicGdG abounded, tn
birds left the strawberries and othe
fruit untouched. No sooner di
this unusual supply OF food begin
fail them, than the bird, thrush
and other feathered friends, returne
) to the gardens for raspberries an
currants.
The opinion that the G. Septende
} cin1 is armed with a poisonous stin
with which it is capable of infiictin
serious and fatal injuries, is not we
. authenticated; indeed, the presumI
t ton is all the other way, l perm
3 my little boy, a child fifteen month
2 old, to play with them until he
t tired of them and leaves them badl
: wounded on the floor. Now
!, seems to me if they would stin
: anything, it would be the tendt
e hand of a child.
8 In conclusion, I will say, there
J. an ominous looking mark upon eac
wing near the end, which superst
e tious people readily imagine into
n w. And as such people commonl
o dread war, they say in a low ton
= for fear the enemy may hear then
Y "W-for w-a-rl" The same ella
y of persons say there is an M in N
d hand. "M for money!" they sa,
o Query where is the money! Eel
s answers "where."
: Sinking Springs, o., June Z, 1877
III
It If man is a "mister y" woman
y "miss-ery."