322 General Notes. [ May, 
LARGE RATTLESNAKES.—Col. T. M. Bryan, of Vincenttown, 
N. J., writes us under date of Aug. 16th, that, “ Rattlesnakes are 
six feet two inches long, with fourteen rattles and a button. 
Within the ensuing five days seven were offered, none, however, 
as long as the above mentioned, but one was five feet nine inches, 
and had fifteen rattles and a button.” 
SOUND=PRODUCING ORGANS OF THE CRICKET.— During some 
researches among the order of Orthopters, made by me the past 
fall, I made it a point to carefully investigate the means by which 
the stridulous calls of the family Saltatoria were produced. La- 
treille, in the “ Animal Kingdom ” of Cuvier, says of this family 
of leapers: “ The males call their females by making a chirping 
noise, which is sometimes produced by rubbing an inner part of 
the wing-covers like a talc-like mirror, against each other with 
rapidity, and sometimes by a similar alternate motion of the hind 
thighs against the wings and wing-covers, the thighs acting the 
part of the bow of a violin.” This description may be considered 
G. I —Enlarged view of the under side of the wing-case of cricket; a, 4, 
ponent tube; 4, dens bearing vibratory flanges; c, slight protuberance ; d, coria- 
ceous membrane 
as relating more especially to the group in general, but in the case 
of the genus Gryllus (Acheta of English authors), of which I pro- 
pose to speak, there is a special arrangement, a singular adapta- 
tion of means to ends. 
It must be evident to all who are familiar with the notes_pro- 
duced by the cricket, that the extreme shrillness and penetrating 
ower of their call could with difficulty be produced by the sim- 
ple frictional movement of one unctuous “talc-like” surface over 
another. There are many different species the calls of which can 
be heard at the distance of several hundred feet, and one species, 
inhabiting Sicily (G. ee) whose call has been distin- 
guished at the distance of a 
This power to produce a PPAR tone, calls for a special 
