78 THE MICKOSCOPE AND ITS LESSONS. 



their companions, who, of course, must possess organs of 

 hearing. 



"I will tell it softly, 

 Yon crickets shall not hear it, ' 



these words are from our poet Shakespeare, whose remark- 

 able acquaintance with the secrets of natural history 

 often appears to approach inspiration. We notice these 

 musical keys in the wing of the male cricket only, not 

 the female, for, as the celebrated entomologist, Swam- 

 merdam, remarks, in confirmation of Rennie's statement 

 that " it is the males alone of crickets who are musical, 

 the females make no noise," but in that -part of the male 

 wing-case which is folded horizontally over the trunk, 

 there is a round plate made of a very fine transparent 

 membrane, resembling the tympanum of the human ear ; 

 it is surrounded by a strong and prominent nervure, 

 concealed under the fold of the left wing-case; and 

 Eennie, who is a most reliable authority, writing upon 

 the subject of noises produced by grasshoppers and 

 crickets, adds it is exceedingly probable that the quick 

 motion with which these insects rub these nervures 

 against each other produces a vibration in the mem- 

 brane, whence the sound is augmented, so that it is 

 literally true that crickets do " praise the Lord by rub- 

 bing their legs together." 



A whole chapter might be devoted to this part of our 

 story. We might tell of one who took so great a fancy to 

 the merry chirp of the house cricket that he was accus- 

 tomed to keep them, for their music's sake, in a box in 

 his study. Some fancy they presage misfortune ; others 

 that it is unlucky to kill them : we prefer very much to 

 have them silent, and nicely spread out before our eyes 

 under the microscope. 



If a chapter might be devoted to the story of our 



