334 



Marvels of the Universe 



A somewhat similar species, but witli larger flowers, comes from .Mexico ; but the linest is 

 Macdonald's Cereus, from Honduras, whose flowers are frequently fourteen inches across, with 

 red and orange sepals and white petals. This species creeps along the ground, whereas the other 

 two mentioned are climbers. 



THE CICADA 



BV K. G. BL.MR, B.SC, F.E.S. 



The vocal accomplishments of the Cicada have attracted attention to their possessors from very 

 early times. They were well known to the ancient Greeks, by whom thev were held in great 

 esteem as songsters ; indeed, Anacreon, in an ode to this insect, addresses it as " almost like a 

 god," though the attributes that he ascribes to it as a foundation for this extravagance — " earth- 

 born, musical, impassive, and without blood " — are hardly sufficient to make the likeness very 

 impressive. The Greeks, moreover, recognized that the male Cicada alone is the nmsician, 

 for another poet, Xenarchus, sings : " Happy the Cicadas' lives, since they all have voiceless 

 wives." 



The Cicadas are mostly tropical insects, though about twenty species are found in Southern 

 Europe : one is a native of this country, though rare and seldom found outside the New Forest. 

 In habits they var^? considerably ; ours and many of the European species sing only in 



the hottest sunshine, while in the tropics they 

 are usually silent during the day and com 

 mence singing only when the sun goes down. 

 Once started, however, they are in no hurry 

 to stop, and the power of their voice, the 

 pertinacity with w'hich they continue through- 

 out the livelong night, and, above all, the 

 inmiense numbers of them all around, all sing 

 ing at once, make the night hideous in districts 

 where they occur. As to the nature of the 

 sound they produce opinions differ immensely 

 probably in great part this dift'erence is due to 

 the various species that have been the subject 

 of observation in different parts of the world. 

 The Greeks, as we have seen, highly appreciated 

 the sound, though how much of this was due to 

 the effect of a poetic imagination upon stories 

 received from others is open to question ; 

 modern observers in the same districts say that 

 the sound in itself is not unpleasant, but that 

 the monotony and the pertinacity of it make it 

 perfectly distracting ; others in other parts of 

 the world say that for shrillness and intensity it 

 is like nothing so much as a locomotive whistle ; 

 others again compare the noise with that made 

 bv a threshing machine. 



The object of the noise is a matter of 

 conjectuie. The vocal oi'gans consist of a 



Fholo hy] 



[l>. H. I'abre. 



CICADA EMERGING. 



The winged Cicada having all but emerged from the chrysalis 

 skin, hangs limply while its wings are expanding more fully and 

 its new skin hardening sufficiently to enable it to take hold 

 with its feet. 



