The Cicada: his Music 



continued between the two branches into the 

 depths of the thorax. 



This hollow belly and its thoracic comple- 

 ment form an enormous resonator, unap- 

 proached by that of any other performer in 

 our district. If I close with my finger the 

 orifice in the abdomen which I have just 

 clipped, the sound becomes lower, in con- 

 formity with the laws affecting organ-pipes; 

 if I fit a cylinder, a screw of paper, to the 

 mouth of the open belly, the sound becomes 

 louder as well as deeper. With a paper 

 funnel properly adjusted, its wide end 

 thrust into the mouth of a test-tube acting 

 as a sounding-board, we have no longer the 

 shrilling of the Cicada but something very 

 near the bellowing of a Bull. My small chil- 

 dren, happening to be there at the moment 

 when I am making my acoustic experiments, 

 run away scared. The familiar insect in- 

 spires them with terror. 



The harshness of the sound appears to be 

 due to the tongue of the rattle rasping the 

 nervures of the vibrating cymbals; its in- 

 tensity may no doubt be ascribed to the spa- 

 cious sounding-board of the belly. Assuredly 

 one must be passionately enamoured of song 

 thus to empty one's belly and chest in order 



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