Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1873-07-09

Just killed. The caterpillar was at least
five or six times heavier than its conquer
or, which could not gain its end. Six
times successfully, wearied of the war, and
despairing of success, it abandoned its
prey and sadly placed itself at some dis
lance. At last bright idea saved 1t from
its embarrassment; it returned, placed It
self across the caterpillar, as if on horse
back; with its two middle feet it embraced
the body of its victim, raised it against its
breast, and managed to walk on the four
feet which were at liberty; thus it soon
crossed walk of six feet wide, and laid
its prey against wall.
Invests atlons have been made regard
ing the jumping insects of the order Or
thoptera-the weight which crickets and
grasshoppers can raise when jumping
To prevent them using their wings, M.
Plateau tied them and the elytra or outer
sheaths with thread. The burden was
ball of wax ballasted with morsels Of
lead, which was hung to thread tied
round the thoraX as much lead was add
ed to the wax until the insect could only
raise itself an inch from the ground The
ball and the insect were afterwards
weighed, the latter having been
made insensible by the fumes of
ether Crickets of the larger kind raised
about one and half their own weight;
the smaller ones three or four times their
weight. The grassEopper differs from the
cricket in having longer and thinner legs;
the green variety weighing about two and
a half grammes, can only raise a weight
equal to its own, confirming the law that
the muscular force of insects increases as
their size diminishes. When allowed to
jump freely, crickets describe a curve in
the air similar to all projectiles. 1t is
curious that the amplitude of the spring is
the same for the large and smaller kinds
alike. This result was foreseen by the
celebrated naturalist, Strauss Durckheim
In his work on "The Comparative Anat-
omy of Articulated Animals" he estab-
fishes the point that two animals of SINH
lar form, but of different dimensions, will
jump the same height above the point
where lies their center of gravity at the
moment when they quit the soil He
takes as an example the cat and the tiger,
and adds that the same conclusion is APP
plicable to crickets and grasshoppers.
The principle which serves as basis for
this theory is that the motive power of
animals increases with the section and not
with the volume of the muscles 1t de-
ponds only on the number of
1bres of which the muscles are
composed; from whence it follows
that it ought to be in proportion to
the surface of the section of these organs,
whilst the weight of the animal is proper
tional to their volume. The weight aug
power, and the relation between this
weight and this force becomes the more
unfavorable as the animal is larger. Other
otur cfc To ~
do not consider it to be an absolute gener-
al law Among the insects that dig or
burrow in the ground, different plan
was tried to see their power of pushing
forwards. They were placed in card
board tube, which had been blackened
and made rough for the feet; at one end
transparent plate of glass was fixed to a
horizontal level. Perceiving the light be
fore it through the plate which barred it's
exit, the insect when excited pushes with
all its strength; the plate gives way, the
lever turns, and raises at its other eXtrem-
ity the balance, which is attached by a
pulley, and into which the sand is poured
as before. In this way the oryctes
weighing about forty-six grains,
pushed three or four times
its own weight, whilst the little
onthophagus moved eighty or ninety
times that amount The experiments in
the way of flying lead to the conclusion
that insects employ much less muscular
force in that way than in drawing or push
ing; perhaps it is that, unlike birds, they
are not intended to carry large weights
through the air. A ball of soft wax of a
weight little superior to what the insect
might be expected to bear, was fastened
round its body, and it was tried as to
whether it could support this in the air:
if it fell, the size was diminished. Among
various insects belonging to the five orders
of Coleoptera (beetles), it was found that
they could raise from one-siXth to double
their own weight; the common fly could
manage triple that amount. \ ct the flight
of insects is so rapid that some can dis
lance the swallows that pursue them, and
certain kinds of flies are said to be able to
pass a race-horse or a locomotive going at
full speed. If we inquire why the smaller
species are the stronger, the answer may
be that their way Of life necessitates
it. Thus the hardness of the soil
is the same to all the burrowers:
the grains of sand which the larger
can easily displace are rocks to the small
er ones; and, comparing them with ami
mails, the mole and the rabbit require
nuCu less StIouSlIl W 1OICG d passage IIldn
the ant The prodigious leaps of the
cricket, the locust, and the grasshopper
would, in the same proportion, make a
lion spring over half a mile. Not less
surprising is the power of destruction in
certain classes: the termites have under
mined whole towns which are now sus-
pended over catacombs. Such is the case
nth Valencia. in New Granada; La
Rochelle is menaced by the same fate
The larvae or the sirex pierce through balls
of lead with their mandibles During
the Crimean War, packets of cartouches
were found the conical balls of which
were perforated in various parts The
little African ant can raise mounds of clay
five yards high, and Of such solidity that
the wild cattle stand On them to explore
the horizon. Such edifces are thousands
of times larger than their architects
whilst the pyramid of Cheops is but
ninety times the height of man.
Another subject which has engaged the
attention of naturalists of late is the
strict relation which exists between the
habits, manners, and mode of life in in
sects with the conformation of their
organs. Mr. Darwin has acknOwled ged the
organic adaptation Of species to the con-
dition of existence; but he thinks that,
ON ing to their want of exercise on one