]<}() ORGANS OF HEARING. 



standing in the shade, a nut weevil was sitting 

 quietly at a distance upon a leaf, with the antennae 

 hanging down as if they were asleep ; on which 

 account I directed a pocket-telescope to the spot, 

 which was above five feet distant, and therefore 

 convenient for viewing the insect. The point of' 

 view being thus determined, I made a loud sound* 

 and I was delighted with the opportunity of seeinJj 

 the weevil not only roused, but the antennae wbkl 

 had been hanging down became elongated, and' 

 being full of joints, struck by the undulations ol 

 sound, they extended themselves, and remained oBi 

 the alert till alarmed again by a fresh sound. Th 

 insects fell down on the ground, as is the habit of 

 those and other weevils. I have never attended tdj 

 any proof of hearing in spiders, among which th 

 want of antenna3 is supplied by acute sight ana 

 smell ; but all these proofs, weighed together and 

 separately, seem to add strength to the probability 

 of our conjecture, namely, that the antennae a 

 given to insects for the purpose of perceiving andi 

 recognising sounds., in a similar manner as the sails 

 of a ship serve to convert the wind to the use of the< 

 sailor ; from which analogy and comparison, I sup- 

 pose that this name has been assigned to these 

 organs of insects."* 



Professor Treviranus says, " I believed I had 



* Field Naturalist's Magazine, i. pages 298-99. 



