The Life of the Grasshopper 



case. Besides, with her, there is no such 

 thing as a mirror, that is to say, no shiny 

 membrane resembling a flake of mica. The 

 bow rubs across the rough vein of the oppo- 

 site scale and in this way produces simul- 

 taneous vibration in the two fitted spherical 

 domes. 



The vibrating part is double, therefore, 

 but too stiff and clumsy to produce a sound 

 of any depth. The song, in any case rather 

 thin, is even more plaintive than the male's. 

 The insect is not lavish with it. If I do not 

 interfere, my captives never add their note 

 to the concert of their caged companions; on 

 the other hand, when seized and worried, 

 they utter a moan at once. It seems likely 

 that, in a state of liberty, things happen 

 otherwise. The dumb beauties in my bell- 

 jars are not for nothing endowed with a 

 double cymbal and a bow. The instrument 

 that moans with fright must also ring out 

 joyously on occasion. 



What purpose is served by the Grasshop- 

 per's sound-apparatus? I will not go so far 

 as to refuse it a part in the pairing, or to 

 deny it a persuasive murmur, sweet to her 

 who hears it: that would be flying in the 

 face of the evidence. But this is not its prin- 

 270 



