THE CRICKET 



receive from this humble chorister a solemn hymn of 

 praise. 



in 



HIS MUSICAL-BOX 



In steps Science, and says to the Cricket bluntly : 



"Show us your musical-box." 



Like all things of real value, it is very simple. It is 

 based on the same principle as that of the Grasshoppers : 

 a bow with a hook to it, and a vibrating membrane. 

 The right wing-case overlaps the left and covers it almost 

 completely, except where it folds back sharply and en- 

 cases the insect's side. It is the opposite arrangement to 

 that which we find in the Green Grasshopper, the Decti- 

 cus, and their kinsmen. The Cricket is right-handed, 

 the others left-handed. 



The two wing-cases are made in exactly the same way. 

 To know one is to know the other. They lie flat on the 

 insect's back, and slant suddenly at the side in a right- 

 angled fold, encircling the body with a delicately veined 

 pinion. 



If you hold one of these wing-cases up to the light 

 you will see that is it a very pale red, save for two large 

 adjoining spaces; a larger, triangular one m front, and 

 a smaller, oval one at the back. They are crossed by 



[189] 



