VOCAL ORGANS. 241 



applies his mouth to an empty barrel, and makes a 

 murmuring noise therein, it will resemble the lowing 

 of an ox. Various forms of things which are hol- 

 low produce sounds of astonishing variety. If any 

 one, for instance, remove the lid of a cask and draw 

 the bottom of it upwards and downwards, shouting 

 in it at the same time, a sound will, by such a con- 

 trivance, be produced, that would frighten wild 

 animals in a similar manner to that which is prac- 

 tised by orchard keepers*/' 



Old Belon does not seem to be aware of this pas- 

 sage when he says, " It is not a little marvellous that 

 Aristotle, who has written the history of animals with 

 so much care, should have left it to us to record, that 

 when the bittern comes to the bank of a pond or 

 marsh, putting its bill under the water, it produces so 

 loud a sound that a bull could not bellow so loud ; 

 for it so manages the utterance of this sound that it 

 can be heard at the distance of half a leaguet*" 

 Gesner, from his own observation, says it may be 

 heard at the distance of half a German mile J ; or, as 

 another author gives it, a good hour's walk. 



The remarks of Buffon on the loudness of the 

 voices of birds are more correct than is usual with 

 him when he launches into speculation. " In birds," 

 he says, " the formation of the thorax, of the lungs, 

 and of all the organs connected with these, seems 

 expressly calculated to give force and duration to 

 their utterance, and the effect must be proportionally 



* Aristotle, Problem, ii. 35. 



t Oyseaux, p. 193, fol. Paris, 1555. The original is, "C'est 

 bien a s'esmerueiller qu'Aristote, qui a escrit 1'histoire des 

 animaux saigneusement, a laisse ce que dirons du Butor, c'est que 

 quand il se trouve a la rive de quelque estang au marais, mettant 

 son bee en 1'eau, il fait un si gros son, qu'il n'y a beuf qui peust 

 crier si ham." 



1 De Avibus, iii. Ardea Stellaris. 



$ Physicae Curiosae. p. 1160. 



Y 



