The Cricket: the Song 



ures which intensify the vibration by increas- 

 ing the number of the points that are touched 

 by the bow. 



On the lower surface, one of the two veins 

 that surround the cavity with the rungs be- 

 comes a rib cut into the shape of a hook. 

 This is the bow. I count in it about a hun- 

 dred and fifty triangular teeth or prisms of 

 exquisite geometrical perfection. 



It is a fine instrument indeed, far superior 

 to that of the Decticus. The hundred and 

 fifty prisms of the bow, biting into the rungs 

 of the opposite wing-case, set the four drums 

 in motion at one and the same time, the 

 lower pair by direct friction, the upper pair 

 by the shaking of the friction-apparatus. 

 What a rush of sound! The Decticus, en- 

 dowed with a single paltry mirror, can be 

 heard just a few steps away; the Cricket, 

 possessing four vibratory areas, throws his 

 ditty to a distance of some hundreds of 

 yards. 



He vies with the Cicada in shrillness, 

 without having the latter's disagreeable 

 harshness. Better still: this favoured one 

 knows how to modulate his song. The 

 wing-cases, as we said, extend over either 

 side in a wide fold. These are the dampers 

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