MUSIC IN THE PLANT WORLD 
tening to the wind sigh through the Reeds on 
the shore of a lake. The first stringed instru- 
ment was probably a fibre accidentally stretched 
across a hollow shell. ‘The classic Aeolian harp 
consisted of a wooden frame containing a thin 
sounding-board over which were stretched a 
number of strips of cat-gut. If placed before 
a half-open window so that an air current 
strikes it sideways, it gives forth a great volume 
of harmonious notes in several octaves. This 
is a Clear case of catching the music of the wind. 
In a cruder, less harmonious way, the Japa- 
nese glass tinklers of our day do the same thing. 
The humming of telegraph wires and the 
strange chirping of a wireless instrument are 
also a kind of singing. 
All the plants are not expert musicians, 
which explains why they often seek to make 
up for their own deficiencies by hiring numerous 
birds and insects to make melody for them. 
These musicians are employed in the truest 
sense of the word and receive their pay in food, 
shelter and protection. In the air and on the 
ground, by day and by night, they sing and fid- 
dle for their hosts. The broad leaves of the 
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