For some months yet and even during the winter you will often find these forsaken skins hanging from the twigs in the precise attitude assumed by the larva at the moment of metamorphosis.
They are of a horny texture, not unlike dry parchment, and do not readily decay.
I could gather some wonderful information regarding the Cigale were I to listen to all that my neighbours, the peasants, tell me.

I will give one instance of rustic natural history.
[Illustration: THE CIGALE AND THE EMPTY PUPA-SKIN.] Are you afflicted with any kidney trouble, or are you swollen with dropsy, or have you need of some powerful diuretic?
The village pharmacopoeia is unanimous in recommending the Cigale as a sovereign remedy.

The insects in the adult form are collected in summer.

They are strung into necklaces which are dried in the sun and carefully preserved in some cupboard or drawer.

A good housewife would consider it imprudent to allow July to pass without threading a few of these insects.
Do you suffer from any nephritic irritation or from stricture?
Drink an infusion of Cigales.