128 
POPULAE SCIENCE l^EWS. 
[September, 1891 
There are but few of the Lepidoptera (scak'- 
■wing) that make themselves heard. Nature 
seems to have considered the gorgeous creatures 
sufficiently favored in the pride of their brilliant 
coloring. 
Investigators have discovered that the prevalent 
tone in Nature may be referred to the key of F. 
This is especially typical in the order Hymenoptera 
(membrane-wing). According to Huber, every 
bee-Jiive has its fanners. As the term implies, it 
is their mission to fan, by keeping up a constant 
tremulous motion of the wings. The mezzo-aria 
emanating from this host of fauners is in the key 
of X 'ITie hum of the honey-bee (Mellijica) is the 
same as that of the bumble-bee in tone, (/) , with 
a difiference of one octave in register. The great 
bumble-bee, the contra-basso of his tribe, sings 
this note : 
m 
^ 
^^rf 
ITie Dipteras (twice-wing) insects produce sound 
through respiration and by the play of their 
wings. The former is readily distinguished from 
the latter. The wing sound incurs 320 vibrations 
of that member per second — a continuous moment 
of sound representing nearly 20^000 vibrations! 
The respiratory tone of the great buzz-fly ranges 
through c, d, and 6, ))elow middle C. The wing 
sound is in e and /, same register. The scherzo 
of the little house-fly is more embellished. It is 
on / in the first space. 
\ i ^ 
^ 
— 
— 
■ ■ 1 II 
. 
^ 
^ 
V^ 
^ 
\ 
< 
^ 
v^ 
y 
Considering his diminutive size, the gnat (Pj- 
piens) produces the most powerful sound. He is 
really the trimipeter of the insect world. Natu- 
ralists differ greatly concerning the origin and 
part of the insect responsible for this proportion- 
ately immense volume of noise. His clear, well- 
defined note is on A above middle C. 
S 
S^^ j flfO * 
^^5L 
The defiant catch-me-if-you-can hum of the 
mosquito is on d and e, fourth line and space of 
the treble staff. An overture by this troupe is 
not generally appreciated, even though realisti- 
cally suggestive of the tender sentiment, "So 
near, yet, ah ! so far." Dr. Landois relates an 
amusing incident concerning this little instigator 
of forcible language. In shrill key he shouted to 
his careless valet : "If ever you neglect to polish 
my boots again, the mosquitoes shall bite you to 
death." Scarcely had he uttered the thi-eat when 
a perfect swarm of these frail yet all-powerful 
tormentors hovered about the horrified servant of 
dusky hue, who forthwith became a staunch be- 
liever in witchcraft. 
THE DEATH-WATCH. 
The little insect shown in the accompanying 
engraving is the Anohium tesselatum, commonly 
known as the "Death-watch," from the ticking 
sound which it makes when calling to its mate. 
Superstitious persons oftentimes give themselves 
needless uneasiness when listening to these 
sounds, from an old belief that they foretell the 
approach of death. But the only real harm that 
can be charged to the AnoMum is the perforation 
of wood, furniture, etc., which has given him in 
France the popular name of "The Gimlet." 
Anohium tesselatum.-r-\. Perfect insect, magnified. 2. 
Natural size. 3. Larva, magnified. JL, Natural size. 5. 
Piece of wood honey-combed by insects. 
In the larval state (3, 4) the insect lives in 
wood, boring through the interior, and showing 
no signs of its presence. It is finally converted 
into a chrysalis, and after a few weeks the perfect 
insect (1, 2) appears, and makes its exit from the 
wood through a round hole, sometimes in such 
numbers that the wood is completely honey- 
combed and destroyed (5). The characteristic 
ticking noise is made by the insect balancing 
itself upon its hind feet, and, with a sort of see- 
saw movement, striking the object upon which it 
is standing with the antennae and fore feet. Al- 
though the regular ticking noise, when heard in a 
sick-chamber at night, has rather a weird effect, 
it is only the call of a harmless Jittle insect, and 
much less to be dreaded than the peremptory hum 
of a hungry mosquito. 
Another species, the A. pertinax, receives its 
name from the pertinacity with which it simu- 
lates death when captured, a^d will allow itself 
to be plunged into water, alcohol, or even to be 
burned alive, without showing any signs of life. 
The illustration is reproduced from La Nature. 
AN EXTRAORDINARY TREE. 
The accompanying engraving (from La Nature) 
was copied from a photograph of a beech tree 
standing in a wood about fifteen miles from Metz. 
The tree is several hundred years old, and the 
contortions and irregularities of its trunk and 
branches are most remarkable. Occasional de- 
partures from perfect symmetry can be observed 
in almost every tree, and it is proverbial that a 
bending of the young twig leads to the inclination 
of the adult tree ; but it would be of great interest 
to know the original cause of the manifold twist- 
ings and turnings of this tree, and whether they 
were due to an accidental bending of the young 
shoots or to an abnormal habit of growth. 
This ti-ee, which is probably the most remark- 
able of its kind, is an object of interest to large 
numbers of sight-seers, and is locally known by 
the inappropriate name of the Joli-Fou, or Pretty 
Fool. 
<♦* 
[Original In POPtTLAR SCIENCE NEWS.] 
IN A GLASS MANUFACTORY AT MURANO. 
BY ADA M. TUOTTEK. 
Mdrano is a small island, about one mile and a 
half to the north of Venice. The town contains 
some 4,000 inhabitants, and has been the seat of 
the Venetian glass manufacture since the 16th 
century. 
The origin of this industry seems buried in 
obscurity. We find it existing at an early date in 
the city of Venice, whence the furnaces were ban- 
ished to Murano in the 13th century, for fear that 
the smoke would injure the beautiful buildings. 
Thus it was from this center that those marvel- 
lous decorated mirrors, goblets, vases, etc., went 
forth to astonish the world. 
Venetian glass-making was at its zenith in the 
Middle Ages. It began to decline in the 18th cen- 
tury, on the introduction of English, French, and 
Bohemian glass, and at length passed into ob- 
livion, so that it was supposed the secrets of the 
art were lost. But, during the last 30 or 40 years, 
the Signori Salviati and Radi have rediscovered 
