400 NOISES OF INSECTS. 



ungrateful noise. It is in this respect the most trouble- 

 some and impertinent of insects, perching upon a twig 

 and squalling sometimes two or three hours without 

 ceasing ; thereby too often disturbing the studies, or 

 short repose that is frequently indulged, in these hot 

 climates, at those hours. The tsttj^ of the Greeks must 

 have had a quite different voice, more soft surely and 

 melodious ; otherwise the fine orators of Homer, who 

 are compared to it, can be looked upon no better than 

 loud loquacious scolds*." — An insect of this tribe, and I 

 am told a very noisy one, has been found by Mr. Daniel 

 Bydder, befoi'e mentioned, in the New Forest, Hamp- 

 shire. Previously to this it was not thought that any of 

 these insect musicians were natives of the British Isles. — 

 Captain Hancock informs me that the Brazilian Cicadae 

 sing so loud as to be heard at the distance of a mile. 

 This is as if a man of ordinai'y stature, supposing his 

 powers of voice increased in the ratio of his size, could 

 be heard all over the world. So that Stentor himself 

 becomes a mute when compared with these insects. 



You feel very curious, doubtless, to know by what 

 means these little animals are enabled to emit such pro- 

 digious sounds. I have lately mentioned to you the drum 

 of certain grasshoppers; this, however, appears to be an 

 organ of a very simple structure ; but since it is essential 

 to the economy of the Cicadae that their males should 

 so much exceed all other insects in the loudness of their 

 tones, they are furnished with a nnich more complex, 

 and indeed most wonderful, appai-atus, which I shall now 

 describe. If you look at the underside of the body of a 

 male, the first thing that will strike you is a pair of large 

 * Travels, 2d Ed. 186. 



