1 86 STUDIES IN LIFE AND SENSE. 



spiracles ; these openings being capable of closure at the will of the 

 insect a matter of absolute necessity for its safety during the rapidity 

 of flight. The cicada sings during the day, and almost solely when 

 the sun shines brightly. Virgil himself remarks of the insect that it 

 sings, " sole sub ardente," and of the tropical species Mr. Bates 

 remarks that " one large kind, perched high on the trees around our 

 little haven, set up a most piercing chirp j it began," continues our 

 author, "with the usual harsh jarring note of its tribe, but this 

 gradually and rapidly became shriller, until it ended in a long and 

 loud note, resembling the steam whistle of a locomotive engine." 

 Thus much by way of introduction to the cicada and its music. 



Both sexes possess the musical apparatus, but that of the female 



is comparatively simple as compared with the "drum " of her mate, 



and is never used, as we have seen, for producing sounds. The 



apparatus in question is situated in the last joint of the cicada's chest 



and in the succeeding and front joints of its tail. Briefly described, 



the "drum" or "timbale" of the insect consists of a tightly stretched 



membrane and other structures, capable of being affected, stretched, 



and otherwise manipulated, by certain muscles, along with certain 



cavities destined to increase the resonance of the notes ; whilst we 



may not omit to mention the spiracles or breathing apertures as 



playing an important part in the production of the song. The drum 



is the song-producer, which, through its vibrations, gives origin to 



the characteristic sounds, and the accessory apparatus serves to 



increase the intensity of the notes. And the spiracles or breathing 



apparatus may be lastly noted to play an important part in this 



process, since they serve to maintain the necessary equilibrium 



between the external air and the atmosphere imprisoned in the 



cavities already mentioned, as serving to increase and intensify the 



sounds. Abundant evidence testifies to the fact of the song of the 



cicada being used to allure the female insects, and voice is thus again 



witnessed as a means of courtship. Is there, after all, not a strong 



analogy betwixt the love-song and the low and tender accents of the 



lover's part as played by humanity, and the song of the cicada with 



its varying intonations and accents appealing as powerfully in favour 



of the attractive swain as in the world of thought and mind ? And it 



seems, indeed, a laudable enough inference, not merely that rivalry in 



song is a stated and regular occurrence in cicada-life, but that, through 



such competition in voice, the weakest go to the wall, whilst the 



most musical insects come to the front in the " struggle for 



existence." 



An array of mailed forms> including " the shard-borne beetle with 

 his drowsy hum," next demands attention. In no beetle, and indeed 

 in no other insects, do we meet with, the perfection of vocalisation 

 seen in the grasshoppers and their relations. And with the beetle we 



