HABITS OF THE CICADIN.E. 133 



sang so well, that the Locrian was declared victor. 

 His countrymen, in testimony of their gratitude, erected 

 a statue to the insect. There is a beautiful antique gem, 

 which we saw either at Rome or Florence, commemo- 

 rating this supposed event : it represents the figure of 

 the player, with the insect perched upon his lyre. No 

 author we have met with has given a better idea of 

 the singing of a cicada, than old Marcgrave, who says 

 its tune begins with gir, guir, and continues with sis, 

 sis, sis. This, we can affirm from experience, exactly 

 expresses their long-continued and monotonous chirp. 

 In the olive plantations of Italy and of Sicily, and 

 those which cover the beautiful plain of Athens, we 

 have heard innumerable hosts of these merry creatures 

 during summer ; and the noise is so loud, that it may 

 be heard at the distance of half a mile. Strange to 

 say, however, the traveller is not able to see one of 

 these creatures, although hundreds surround him on all 

 sides : while thus recreating themselves, they invariably 

 perch on the branches or stems of trees, some dis- 

 tance from the ground ; while their plain dusky colours 

 assimilate so closely to that of the bark, that the most 

 practised eye can scarcely detect them. It generally 

 happens that the concert is begun by one, who seems 

 to have more power than the rest : he commences with 

 all his might ; and in a minute or two, all the surround- 

 ing trees seem to join in full chorus. Many fables 

 among the ancients, and much erroneous matter by the 

 moderns, has been published regarding the means by 

 which this singing is produced. Reaumur, however, 

 with his usual patience and accuracy, solved the diffi- 

 culty : he discovered two large muscles, which at their 

 point of union formed a space almost square ; by 

 moving these backwards and forwards, he discovered, 

 to his no small astonishment, that he could make a 

 cicada sing that had been dead some weeks ! The 

 sound is emitted through two large apertures, one on 

 each side of the body, which are partly covered by 

 valves : in some species from Brazil, these apertures 



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