Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 6.djvu/612

578 was Vincenzo Gonzaga himself. The tutor fell on his knes, and presenting his sword, asked pardon; but the prince basely ran him through the body.

1em  CRICKET (Achetidæ), a family of saltatory Orthopterous Insects, characterized by the great length and slenderness of the antennae, and by the norizontal position of the wings and wing-covers when at rest. The wings when folded form long slender filaments, which often reach beyond the extremity of the body, and give the appearance of a bifid tail, while in the male they are provided with a stridulating apparatus by which the well-known chirping sound, to which the insect owes its name, is produced. The abdomen of the female ends in a limg slender ovipositor, which, however, is not exserted in the Mole Cricket. The House Cricket (Acheta domestica) is of a greyish-yellow colour marked with brown. It frequents houses, especially in rural districts, where its lively, if somewhat monotonous, chirp may be heard nightly in the neighbourhood of the fireplace. It is particularly fond of warmth, and is thus frequently found in bakeries, where its burrows are often sunk to within a few inches of the oven. In the hot sum mer it goes out of doors, and frequents the walls of gardens, but retui-is again to its place by the hearth on the first approach of cold, where, should the heat of the fire be withdrawn, it becomes dormant. It is nocturnal, coming forth at the evening twilight in search of food, which con sists of bread crumbs and other refuse of the kitchen. The Field Cricket (Acheta campestris) is a larger insect than the former, and of a darker colour. It burrows in the ground to a depth of from 6 to 12 inches, and in the evening the male may be observed sitting at the mouth of its hole noisily stridulating until a female approaches, &quot; when,&quot; says Bates, &quot; the louder notes are succeeded by a more subdued tone, whilst the successful musician caresses with his antennae the mate he has won.&quot; The musical apparatus in this species consists of upwards of 130 transverse ridges on the under side of one of the nervures of the wing cover, which are rapidly scraped over a smooth, projecting nervure on the opposite wing. The female deposits her eggs abo.it 200 in number on the ground, and when hatched the Iarva3, which resemble the perfect insect except in the absence of wings, form burrows for themselves in which they pass the winter. The Mole Cricket (Gryllotalpa vulgaris) owes its name to the striking analogy in its habits and structure to those of the common mole. Its body is thick and cylindrical in shape, and it burrows by means of its front legs, which are short and greatly flattened out and thickened, with the outer edge partly notched so as some what to resemble a hand. It prefers loose and sandy ground in which to dig, its burrow consisting of a vertical shaft from which long horizontal galleries are given off ; and in making those excavations it does immense injury to gardens and vineyards by destroying the tender roots of plants, which form its principal food. It also feeds upon other insects, and even upon the weak of its own species in the absence of other food. It is exceedingly fierce and voracious, and is usually caught by inserting a stem of grass into its hole, which being seized, is retained till the insect is brought to the surface. The female deposits her eggs in a neatly constructed subterranean chamber, about the size of a hen s egg, and sufficiently near the surface to allow of the eggs being hatched by the heat of the sun.  CRICKET is the national game of Englishmen. The prevalent love of the pastime may perhaps be cited as an instance of the development of the national character. requiring, as it does, such a combination of intellectual and physical qualities—broad and open shoulders, stout anus and quick legs, with patience, calculation, and prompt ness of execution. In the infancy of the game, stumps did not exist. A circular hole in the turf supplied their place, and it is surmised that the batsman was put out either by being caught, or, when running, by the outside returning the ball into the cavity ere the striker placed the base of his bat therein. This led to unseemly tussles between the batsman and fielders, often to the detriment of the latter s hands. It is surmised from the old records of the Hambledon Club that the first description of wicket com prised one stump only, 18 inches high, which was displaced with the ball, in lieu of &quot; holing &quot; the same, in order to put the runner out, but absolute proof on this point is wanting. The date of a second stump being added is buried in obscurity. It is only known that they were placed 2 feet apart, with a connecting cross-bar on the top, the height being 1 foot ; and a large hole for putting the ball into was excavated between the stumps. The dimen sions of 22 inches by 6 inches were adopted in 1702, and thus, as far as is known, matters remained till, in 1775, at a Hambledon Club match, the ball was observed to pass thrice between the two stumps without dislodging the cross-bar. To obviate this a third stump was added in the middle, and the modern bails were substituted for the cross-bar. The next alteration was to 24 inches by 7 inches in 1798, and in 1817 another inch was added to the height; at which dimensions, viz., 27 inches by 8 inches, the wicket remains in 1877. It is possible that there were other intermediate alterations from time to time ; but as each year s laws have not been pre served, this is uncertain. From the earliest cLys, how ever, the wickets have always been placed one chain or 22 yards apart. Cvicket bats were at first made with a sweeping curve at the base, which made them available for hitting only. They were broader and far more cumbersome than the lithe spring-handled implements of the present day, the shape now in use appearing to have become prevalent about 1825, when round arm bowling came permanently into vogue. A sketch of the various shapes in use from early times downwards will be found in the frontispiece of Mr Frederick Gale s Echoes from the old Cricket Fields. No evidence exists as to the size and weight of the first balls used. At the end of the 18th century they were much of the same dimensions as now, but both materials and workmanship have vastly improved even since the first &quot; treble sewn &quot; was manufactured. Cricket is divided into single and double wicket, and it is a moot point which of the two was the parent game. Judging, however, from the earliest evidence extant, it seems probable that single wicket was the first instituted, as it is less complicated and requires fewer players. In their pavilion at the Kennington Oval the Surrey County Cricket Club possesses the earliest known picture of the game in anything like its present form. The date is 1743, and the stumps are aptly described by Mr Frederick Gale as &quot; a skeleton hurdle of about 2 feet wide and 1 foot high.&quot; The bat is of the old-fashioned curved shape, and the score was kept by notching each individual run on a stick. With the exception that all play was evidently forward of the wicket (the same is the case now in single wicket matches with less than five a side), the leading features of the game are identical with those of the present day. Single wicket, however, was never much practised after a knowledge of the game became thoroughly diffused, except by great players for a large stake or a championship. It is with the double wicket game that we 