The Life of the Grasshopper 



which forms the chief resource of the ven- 

 triloquist's art, has another, easily discovered 

 source. For the open sounds, the wing- 

 cases are raised to their full height; for the 

 muffled sounds, they are lowered more or 

 less. In the latter position, their outer edges 

 press to a varying extent upon the insect's 

 yielding sides, thus more or less decreasing 

 the vibratory surface and reducing the 

 volume of sound. 



A gentle touch with one's finger stifles the 

 sound of a ringing wine-glass and changes it 

 into a veiled, indefinite note that seems to 

 come from afar. The pale Cricket knows 

 this acoustic secret. He misleads those who 

 are hunting for him by pressing the edges of 

 his vibrating flaps against his soft abdomen. 

 Our musical instruments have their dampers, 

 their sourdines; that of CEcanthus pellucens 

 vies with and surpasses them in the simpli- 

 city of its method and the perfection of its 

 results. 



The Field Cricket and his kinsmen also 

 employ the sourdine by clasping their ab- 

 domen higher or lower with the edge of their 

 wing-cases; but none of them obtains from 

 this procedure such deceptive effects as those 

 of the Italian Cricket. 



350 





