MUSICIANS 265 



mentioned. In the Crickets the wing-cases are 

 symmetrical ; both have straight edges and sharply 

 scored nervures adapted to produce the stridula- 

 tion. A distinct portion of their edges is not, 

 therefore, set apart for the elaboration of a sound- 

 producing instrument. In this family the wing- 

 cases He flat on the back of the insect, and overlap 

 each other for a considerable portion of their 

 extent. 



" In the Locustidae the same members have a 

 sloping position on each side of the body, and do 

 not overlap, except to a small extent near their 

 bases ; it is out of this small portion that the 

 stridulating organ is contrived. Greater resonance 

 is given in most species by a thin transparent plate, 

 covered by a membrane, in the centre of the over- 

 lapping lobes. 



" In the Grasshoppers (Acridiid^e) the wings meet 

 in a straight suture, and the friction of portions 

 of their edges is no longer possible. But Nature 

 exhibits the same fertility of resource here as else- 

 where ; and in contriving other methods of supply- 

 ing the males with an instrument for the production 

 of call-notes indicates the great importance she 

 attaches to this function. The music in the males 

 of the Acridiidai is produced by the scraping of the 

 long thighs against the horny nervures of the 

 outer edges of the wing-cases ; a drum-shaped 

 organ placed in a cavity near the insertion of the 

 thighs [of the hind legs] being adapted to give 

 resonance to the tones." 



