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Antenna; of Insects. 
By means of these, it is probable, the males of many of the foreign 
Bombyces, which are known to fly a vast distance in quest of the 
females, discover the objects of their search ; and our native spe- 
cies, B. quercus , B. potatoria, See. find their partners even in the 
most secluded situations. That they do this by means of the 
antennae is highly probable, and that these are employed as the 
auditory rather than as the olfactory organs is by far more pro- 
bable. A few objections remain yet to be noticed. The roots 
of the nerves that go to the antennae from the brain, being always 
on the front side of or immediately before those of the eyes, may at 
first seem to favour the idea of these being for the sense of smell, 
judging, as we do, from the origin of the olfactory nerves in other 
animals ; but when it is known that in insects there are always 
other nerves originating from the lower part of the front side of 
the brain, and more analogous from their situation to the olfac- 
tories of the larger animals, this objection vanishes. Lehmann 
deprived the house-cricket, Acheta domeslica, Steph., an insect 
noted for acuteness of hearing, of its antennae, but the little crea- 
ture was equally sensible of sounds as before. Now as this insect 
and its congeners have the antennae formed almost precisely similar 
to the cray-fish, is it not probable that the seat of hearing, as in 
that animal, is placed within the head at the base of the antennae, 
whence an excision of these organs would not destroy the faculty 
of hearing, although, doubtless, it would render it less perfect ? 
Again, it has been remarked that spiders have much acuteness of 
hearing, yet have no antennae. The general anatomy of these 
animals, it is well known, differs greatly from that of insects, and 
thence it cannot be wondered at that they are differently organized 
with regard to the auditory organs. May not these be constructed 
similarly to those of some reptiles that hear very acutely, but 
which have no external ears, the part answering to the tym- 
panum being on a level, and connected with the common covering 
of the head, and thence in the spider remain at present un- 
discovered ? 
In conclusion, from all that has been observed of the antennae 
it seems probable that in all insects these are the auditory organs, 
and that the means by which they are fitted for the function of 
hearing are varied in different insects, to adapt them to the per- 
ception of sounds according to the habits of the species ; that in 
some species they are endowed also with the sense of touch ; that 
they are of great, although not vital importance to the insect; 
and that the loss of both of them, more particularly when en- 
VOL. II. 
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