190 ORGANS OF NEARING. 
standing in the shade, a nut weevil was sitting 
quietly at a distance upon a leaf, with the antennee 
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 seeing 
the weevil not only roused, but the antennee which 
had been hanging down became elongated, and 
being full of joints, struck by the undulations of 
sound, they extended themselves, and remained on 
the alert till alarmed again by a fresh sound. The 
insects fell down on the ground, as is the habit of 
those and other weevils. I have never attended to 
any proof of hearing in spiders, among which the 
want of antenne is supplied by acute sight and 
smell ; but all these proofs, weighed together and 
separately, seem to add strength to the probability 
of our conjecture, namely, that the antenne are 
given to insects for the purpose of perceiving and 
vecognising 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. 
