88 HALF-AN-HOUR AT 



only quoting the conclusion — "The position of the capsules strikes 

 us as extremely favourable for the performance of the function 

 which we assign to them ; besides which, these present themselves 

 in the same light, the anatomical arrangements of the capsules, the 

 disposition, and lodgment of the nerves, the fitness of the expanded 

 whorls for receiving, and the jointed antennae fixed by the im- 

 movable basal joint for transmitting vibrations, created by sonorous 

 modulations. The intra-capsular fluid is impressed by the shock, 

 the expanded nerve appreciates the effect of the sound, and the 

 animal may judge of the intensity^ or distance, of the source of 

 sound, by the quantity of the impressions ; of i\\Q pitch, or quality, 

 by the consonance of particular whorls of the stiff hairs, according 

 to their length ; and the direction in which the modulations travel, 

 by the manner in which they strike upon the antennce, or may be 

 made to meet either antenna, in consequence of an opposite 

 movement of that part. That the male should be endued with 

 superior acuteness of the sense of hearing appears from the fact, 

 that he must seek the female for sexual union, either in the dim 

 twilight or in the dark night, when nothing, save her sharp hum- 

 ming noise, can serve him as a guide. The necessity for an equal 

 perfection of hearing does not exist in the female ; and, accord- 

 ingly, we find that the organs of the one attain to a development 

 which the others never reach. In these views we believe ourselves 

 to be borne out by direct experiment, in connection with which we 

 may allude to the greater difficulty of catching the male mosquito. 

 In the course of our observations, we have arrived at the conclusion, 

 that the a?itennce, serve, to a considerable extent, as organs of touch 

 in \.\\Q female; for the palpi are extremely short, while the antennae 

 are very moveable, and nearly equal to the proboscis in length. 

 In the male, however, the length and perfect development of the 

 palpi would lead us to look for the seat of the tactile sense else- 

 where ; and, in fact, we find the two apical antennal joints to 

 be long, moveable, and comparatively free from hairs ; and the 

 limited motion of the remaining joints very much more limited." 



{loC. Cit., pp. lOI 102.) 



Anatomy of Drone-fly.— A thoughtfully prepared dissection of 

 a kind much to be desired in our boxes. The importance, in 



