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

aminers to supply the schools of
Highland county with the very
best class of teachers, may be ably
seconded by wise and sagaciors
Boards of School Directors and all
interested, am, as ever,
"HARRY FROM CARMEL"
CICADA SEPTENDECIM..
BY REV. t. DE WITT PEAK, A. NJ.
C. Septendecim is the name of a
species of insect, which favor non
musical country people With a free
concert once in seventeen years;
hence the name, "SeUenteen- gear
Cigar" The Cicada is improperly
called "loc,tst," The "locust' is
quite another thing, being about
three inches long, and extremely
destructive 10 vegetation. Of these
there are two species, both peculiar
to Oriental countries, the Acridiuns
Peregrinuna and the Adipoda HI
gratoria. Both species travel in
great multitudes from one part of
the country to another, doing much
damage. A celebrated French tour
ist says: "With the burning south
winds there come from the interior
of Arabia, and from the most south
ern parts of Persia, clouds of locusts
whose ravages to these countries are
as grevious and nearly as sudden
as those of the heaviest hail in Eu-
rope. We witnessed tl,2m twice.
1t is difficult to express the effect
produced on us by the sight of the
whole atmosphere, filled on all sides
and to great height, by an innu-
merable quantity of these insects,
whose flight was so slow and
so uniform, and whose noise
resembled that of rain. The sky
was darkened, and the light of the
sun considerably weakened. In a
moment the terraces of the houses,
the streets, and all the fields, were
covered with these insects; and in
two days they had devoured all the
leaves of the plants. Happily they
lived but short time, and seemed
only to have migrated to reproduce
themselves and die. In fact, near.
ly all those we saw next day had
paired, and the day following the
fields were covered with their dead
bodies"
The Cicada is very distinct from
the locust" it having no mouth,
but sucker instead. They are not
destructive, subsisting on dew and
the juice of plants; are not migrate
ry, being too clumsy to travel with
much speed.
The name Cicada-( (tree>cricket)-
is that by which one or more species
were known to the ancient LatinS,
and the specific name Septendecins,
was given to the species now visit
ing US by Linnaeus, because, with
The specimens sent to him from
America, he was told that it appear
ed only once in Seventeen gears.
This report was doubted by many
European naturalists, who reluctant
Iy yielded their assent to the long
entertained popular and scientific
opinion in this country.
"In the Encyclopedia Americana
the genus Cicada is described under
the name of Harvest-fy, which is
the CicGdd edniculdris - dog-day
fly, which insect has a body black
, above, ornamented with olive green,
while the under side is covered
more or less with a white substance
resembling flour. 1t sings during
'tdog-
+ The CicadG Septendecim is not SC
large as the C. canicularis, nor SC
g small as the common horse-fy. 1t i:
about an inch and half long, with
n long, translucent maculate, capillary
Y veined wings; brown back; the un
d derside is inclined to yellow. 1t il
e first an egg,then caterpillar, then
g chrysalis, then a fly; which las
p state it assumes near the last o
If May of the seventeenth year. Thi
|. happy creature then tunes its harp
g and sings with gradually prolonged
, notes, assuming a fair tone of sadnes
+ as the strength of the chorus dimin
d ishes, until death, which is usual.
,s very sudden, dropping from it
" perch in the midst of its ecstasy
IT and expiring seemingly withou
t, agony.
It, I call the noise it makes its song
This may be exceptionable, for
le can hardly be called singing. 1t
y note is far shriller than that of tn
Sc house cricket, and is as discordan
to as shrilI, and as wearisome as dis
De cordant. Notwithstanding thi:
OF their universal inharmonius chant
N ing has been lauded to excess by tn
a. ancient poets. Plutarch informs I
in that they were sacred to the Muse
e. Kirby, in speaking of the "tettir,
ly or Cicadd, says: "It seems to hav
at been the favorite of every Grecia
of bard from Heriod and Homer
IS, Theocritus. Supposed to be pc
s. fectly harmless, and to live onl
lg upon dew, they were addressed b
As the most endearing epithets, an
in were regarded as almost divine. s
rs, attached indeed were the Atheniar