84 
Vogt pointed out in 1851 that “if the uniform antenne are 
examined with a sufficiently high power, the outer surface of all the 
divisions, except the articulating joint, is found to be covered with 
minute punctures, which are closed in at the bottom by a thin mem- 
brane that appears to be clothed with numerous hairs. In the antenne 
that are not of uniform shape throughout, there is a shaft or style, and 
these indentations are then found only upon the toothed branches, 
processes, and feathers of the antennz, whilst the integument of the 
shaft is like that of the remaining portions of the body.” He further 
says of them, “ We are of opinion that these minute pores, filled 
with fine hairs, perform a function combining those of smell and 
touch.” 
Dr. Hicks, in two papers read before the LinnzeanS ociety in 1857 
and 1859, and published in vol. xxii. of “The Transactions of the 
Linnzan Society,” pointed out that on the whole surface of the third 
joint of the antennz of the blow-fly are a multitude of transparent 
dots, apparently vesicles, which on closer examination are found 
to be cavities in the wall of the antenne, filled with fluid, 
closed in from the outer air by a very thin membrane, and 
that each little sac is connected with the nervous system by a distinct 
nerve. There were 17,000 of these perforations on the surface of 
each antenna in the blow-fly. Besides these, there were about eighty 
larger sacculated chambers irregularly dispersed, and connected with 
the nervous ganglia. He pointed out the existence of, similar organs 
in the antennz of the different tribes of insects, and came to the con- 
clusion that they were organs of hearing because—“ Ist, they consist 
of a cell, sac, or cavity filled with fluid, closed in from the air by a 
membrane analogous to that which closes the foramen ovale in the 
higher animals ; 2nd, that this membrane is for the most part thin and 
delicate, but often projects above the surface, in either a hemispherical, 
conical, or canoe-shaped, or even hair-like form, often variously 
marked ; 3rd, that the antennal nerve gives off branches which come 
in contact with the inner wall of the sacs, but whether the, nerve 
enters or ends in the small internally-projecting papilla is very difficult 
to say.” 
Dr. Hicks considered it impossible that the essential nature of an 
olfactory organ could be included in such structures, or that odorous 
particles could pass, first through a membrane, sometimes even 
spinous, then through a cavity filled with fluid, and thirdly through 
another membrane to reach the extremity of a nerve, but that they 
were well suited for the transmission of sound. 
