Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1873-05-30

the strength of insects, many of which can |
draw forty times that amount.
The way in which NJ. Plateau has meas
ured these powers is ingenious. He har
messed the insects by horizontal thread,
which was passed over a light movable
pulley to this was attached balance load
ed with few grains of sand. To prevent
the insect turning aside, he made IL walk
between two bars of glass on board COW
cred with muslin, so as to afford rough
surface; exciting IL forward, he gradually
poured fresh sand into the balance until IL
refused TO advance farther; the sand and
the insect were then weighed, and the ex-
pertinent was repeated three times, in Or
der to arrive at a correct conclusion as 10
the greatest effort that each could make.
The tables which give the results Of these
trials seem clearly TO demonstrate that in
tho same group of insects the llghtest and
smallest possess the greatest strength, or
that the relative force is in inverse ratio TO
the weight. This law applies also TO the
experiments in flying and pushing, as
well as to drawing.
The strongest insects appear 10 be those
so lulllllldT W lUc DdtuEdilSt, WiilCu liNC WI
lilies and roses, such rs the Criocercs and
IrichieS. These little beings can draw a
weight about forty times superior to their
own, and one, an athlete of the tribe, drew
sixty-seven times its own weight. A
small beetle of the tribe dnomdle has exc
cuted the same feat. Another more re-
markable fact is related of a horn beetle,
which held between its mandiblos, alter
nately raising and lowering. its head and
breast, a rod thirty centimeters long, weigh
ing four hundred gfammes its own weight
was but two grammes. At the side of this
insect, what are the acrobats who carry a
table between their teeth Such examples
show to what an extent insects are superior
to the larger animals in the strength of
their muscles. Dry and nervous, they can,
in proportion to themselves, move noun
tains. In addition TO this they are ingen-
ious; when an obstacle does not yield to
them, they know how TO turn it aside
One day, in garden, small wasp was
trying to raise a caterpillar which it had
just killed. The caterpillar was at least five
or six times heavier than its conqueror,
which conld not gain its end. Six times
successfully, weary of the war, and de-
spairing of success, it abandoned its prey,
and sadly placed itself at some distance.
AT last bright idea saved 1t from its en-
barrassment it returned, placed itself
across the caterpillar as if on h )rseback
with its two middle feet it embraced the
body of its victim, raised it against its
breast and managed to walk on the tour
feet which were at liberty; thus it SON
| crossed a walk six feet wide.
Investigations have been made regard
| ing the jumping insects of the order Or
| Moptera-the weight which crickcts and
| grasshoppers can raise when jumping. To
| prevent them using their wings, NJ. 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;
| lead was gradually added 10 the wax until
the insect could only raise itself an inch
from the ground. The ball and the insect
were afterward weighed, the latter having
| been made insensible by the fumes of eth
err. Crickets of the larger kind raised one
and a half times their own weight; tho
| smaller ones three or four times their
weight. The Grasshopper differs from the
cricket in having longer and thinner legs !;
the green variety, weighing about two and
a half grammes, can only raise 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 Gu
rious that the amplitude of the spring is
the same for the large and smaller kinds
alike. This result was ioreseon by the Gel
ebrated naturalist, Strauss Durckheim. In
his work on The Comparative anatomy of
A9ticuldted animals lie establishes the
point that two animals of similar form but
of different dimensions Will jump the same
height above the point where lies their
centre 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 applicable to crckets and
grasshoppers.
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
| thO VI Saiu WhNh 'bS
larger can easily displace are rocks TO the
smaller ones and comparing them with
animals, the mole and the rabbit require
much less strength to force passage than
the ant. The prodeious leaps of the crick-
ct, the locust, and the grasshopper, would,
in the same proportion, make lion spring
half mile. Not less surprising is the
power of destruction in CERTAIN classes the
ternlites have undermined whole towns,
which are now suspended over catacombs
such is the case with Valencia, in New
Granada La Rochelle is menaced with the
same fate. The larve of the sirex pierce
through balls of lead with their mandibles
During the Crimean war packets of car
touches were found the conical balls o
: which were perforated in various parts
, The little African ants can raise mounds o
, clay five yards high, and of such solidity
! that the wild cattle stand on them to ex
, plore the horizon. Such editices are thou
, sands of times larger than their architects
! while the pyramid Of Cheops is but ninet,
times the height of man.
r The experiments in the way OF hyins
lead to the conclusion that insects employ
l muscular force in that way than in draw
= ing or pushing; perhaps it is that, unlike
l birds, they are not intended to carry larg
weights through the air. A ball of soi
p wax of a weight little superior to what thu
s insect might be expected 10 bear was fas
t tened round its body, and it was tried Il
= to whether it could support this in the air
a if it fell, the size was diminished. Among
g various insects belonging to the five order