1871 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
307 
BdDYS & (BERM’ 
Insects as Musicians. 
We frequently hear people speak of the singing of crick¬ 
ets and grasshoppers. These insects are very noisy, it is 
true, hut they are not vocalists; they are instrumental 
performers. Each one is furnished with a sort of violin 
Hpon which it plays without any instruction. In the 
crickets, a portion or rib of each wing is furnished with 
teeth, which serves as the how, and a hard, smooth rib 
answers for thft strings of the fiddle. The insect rubs 
one wing over the other, and then reverses the move¬ 
ment, and by the scraping of these two parts together 
the sound is produced. The grasshoppers manage some¬ 
what differently. The long hind legs are the fiddle-bows. 
The inner surface of the broad upper part of these legs 
is furnished with over eighty small lancet-shaped elastic 
teeth, and these the insect scrapes against the sharp ribs 
upon the wing cover—or outer wing—first one and then 
the other. The loudest instrumental performer among 
our insects is the Katydid. In a still night the constant¬ 
ly repeated 11 katy-did-she-did ” may be heard for the dis¬ 
tance ef a quarter of a mile. The katydid produces its 
note by means of its wings, which are peculiarly fitted 
for the purpose. In each wing-cover there is a little 
tambourine formed of a thin transparent membrane or 
skin, stretched in a strong, half-oval frame. As the wing- 
covers are opened and shut these little tambourines rub 
against one another, and produce the sounds which give 
the insect its name. These notes are supposed to bo use¬ 
ful to the insects in enabling them to find their mates. 
From the constancy with which some of them keep up 
the sounds, we think that they must be pleased with 
their own music. Boys just learning to whistle make a 
noise that, whatever it may be to others, seems very 
pleasing to themselves, and they keep it up for their own 
gratification. It may lie that insects do the same. 
Farmer ©i* ©ocior-Which? 
Sammie B. Wells, Jr., writes us the following: “I 
take the American Agriculturist , and as I see that you 
advise boys, please give me a little advice. Had I better 
be a doctor or a farmer f My father wishes me to be a 
farmer, and my oldest brother, who is a doctor, wishes 
me to be a doctor. Which is the best business ? I think 
I prefer farming. Please answer me in the next Agri¬ 
culturist." -Answer you—why, you have answered your¬ 
self. Your own preferences are in accordance with your 
father’s wishes, and what can be better ? The only point 
to be answered is—which is the best business, that of 
the doctor or farmer ? There is no doubt that a success¬ 
ful physician may accumulate money more rapidly than 
most farmers are able to, but his is a hard life, and, as far 
as comfort goes, that of the farmer is much to be pre¬ 
ferred. But a small share of those who are educated as 
physicians are successful. Their reward, when it comes, 
if it come at all, is only after a long struggle. Then no 
one should become a physician unless he feels a strong 
inclination towards the profession. It should not be 
taken up n mere business'. With all respect to the 
’■ oldest brother,’’ we c « f , ;r youl . inclinations are to be a 
farmer, follow them. It is a calling m which you can 
invest all the talent you may possess, and be at least suro 
of a good living, without the inconveniences that attend 
the physician’s life. Of course, these remarks are made 
on general principles, and without knowing any thing of 
the persons. There are too many poor doctors, and not 
near enough good farmers, and we always look upon it 
as a fortunate thing when a farmer’s son himself desires 
to be a faatner. 
Sue’s l*iuzle>ltox, 
PUZZLE. 
X 
o 1 s 
S 1 u 
T | B 
P|E 
L 1 A 
E | N 
U|Z 
Z | U 
Clinton Ferouson. 
RIDDLE. 
2. All alone upon the sea. 
Seldom any visit me, 
Yet thousands see me every year, 
And many an anxious heart I cheer. Harris. 
Adolph M. Nagel sends the following 
opposites, 
which promise considerable amusement in their solution. 
For those not familiar with this style of puzzle, let me 
give a hint or two. “ N take,” might make a good op¬ 
posite for “Ocean” (Oshun): “Gentile cup them”— 
Aunt 
% 
L 
“Judicious ” (Jew dish us): and so on. Now let us see 
what you will make out of the following: 
3. Man’s boot. 
4. English nose 
5. Out unseen. 
0. Dollar more. 
7. Heavy barn. 
8. Savage woman. 
9. Hit given. 
10. Coward out. 
TRANSPOSI*ONS. 
(Fill the following blanks with the italicized words 
transposed.) 
11. In some-the girls scream on. 
12. The wagon in which usually he drives , is- 
13. Would it be far-fetched to call-“ coal ovens ” } 
14. Annie toiled to give a true- 
15. She was-in some tender ties. 
10. They-between tart and eel. 
17. She slings Gus sky-high because of his - 
18. That music from her cats? Lcrr! that is 
413. Illustrated Rebus — Good advice. 
414. Illustrated Conundrum . — What arc the men in the 
above picture doing ? 
DIAMOND PUZZLE. 
19. 1. A close consonant. 2. A plural verb. 3. Fart of 
the human frame. 4. To turn from the truth. 5. 
An emigrant. 6. Often a pitiable result. 7. A 
passage. 8. A mineral. 9. A liquid consonant. 
The perpendicular letters are the same as the 5th 
item. H. H. Clark. 
NUMERICAL ENIGMA. 
20. I am composed of 64 letters: 
My 25, 2, 4,12, 23, 21, 51, 59, 47, is a bad quality to 
have. 
My 49, 42, 13, 37, 27, 45, 24, 52, 58, 20, 62, 01, 7, 56, 2, 
38, is a singer. 
My 1, 41, 19, 8, 40, 53, 23, is part of tiie robin. 
My 29, 63, 48, 21, 34, 61, was a musical composer. 
My 40, 60,17, 64, 5, 46, is a joyous interjection. 
My 59, 61, 14, 2, 57, 44, 22, 3, 30, was a queen. 
My 50, 41, 32, 11, 29, 43, 17, is a plant. ' ' 
My 28,19, 49, 26, is much used by upholsterers. 
My 39,10, 6, is a Scottish river. 
My 30, 33, 18, is described in Genesis. 
My 35, 54, 64, 15, 55, wrote an opera. 
My 14, 16, 13, 31, 9, is a planet. 
My whole is a quotation from a “poem of the period.”' 
Aunt Moll 
pi. 
21. Serpence fo dimn si cenrayscs ta lal items. 
CROS3-WORD ENIGMA. 
22. My first is in Christmas but not in May, 
My next is in sunshine but not in day, 
My third is in ocean but not in wave, 
My fourth is in tombstone but not in grave, 
My fifth is in “-coming” but not in “went,” 
My sixth is in Easter but not in Lent. 
My whole is a Trojan ; tell his name, 
For many a schoolboy knows his fame. 
R. T. Isvestes. 
ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN THE JUNE NUMBER. 
ANAGRAMS. 
1. Ribounds. 
2. Domesticated. 
3. Foreheads. 
4. Diagnosis. 
5. Aboriginal. 
6. Doctrines. 
7. Appliances. 
8. Interwoven. 
9. Foregoing. 
10. Hereafter. 
WORDS ENIGMATICALLY EXPRESSED. 
11. Witchcraft. 12. Hotel. 13. Father. 14. Seesaw. 
15. Simpleton. 
MULTUM IN PARVO. 
16. Theirs: I, it, its, he, her, hers, his, their. 
diamond cross puzzlb. New York. 
17. N 
EEL 
HEWER 
N E W Y O R K 
BROWN 
IRE 
K 
18. Dandelion. 
19. Hope, fear, peace, and strife, 
Make up this tangled web of life. 
20. Take away the eight matches ,— 
corresponding with the 
dotted lines. L„ 
21. 281)90257(321. (Key. Peg, Tom I 
and I.) 
22. Wainscot. 23. Esophagus. 24. 
Grandmother. 
410. Ho sleeps well who has 
naught to gain or lose on the morrow. 
411. A rainbow at night is the sailor’s delight. 
AUNT SUE’S NOTICES TO .CORRESPONDENTS. 
Arthur W. K. Did you hope your answers would 
reach me “ before the 1st of April,” when you did not 
post them until the 31st of March ? 
Willie S. On. Yes, you were just half an hour “ too 
late.” I would rather be an hour too soon than a minute 
too late, any time. 
S. L. D. The “inclosed” was forwarded “to the 
Publisher” as requested. 
Star and Crescent. You deserved “ honorable men¬ 
tion” if you didn’t get it. 
E. A. Swain. I wish all my nieces and nephews could 
see the arrangement of your answers : it was perfect. 
Addie L. P. I am very glad that “we” enjoy the 
puz2ies, etc. 
J. H. Bird. Are you going so far away that the Agri¬ 
culturist cannot reach you? Good by. May God be 
with you upon the deep t 
Jennie Foster. You will soon “understand,” if you 
examine the answers. 
Robbie. When you make a labyrinth you should have 
an entrance into every path. 
Nealie C. I am glad you made a beginning if you 
“ never tried before.” 
Thos. C. CoorER (:Santa Crux, Cal.) is much interested 
in natural history, and would like a correspondent of 
similar tastes, with a view to mutual improvement. 
Hattie E. Peck.—I have put that little geranium leaf 
with my treasures. 
Lillie Strekper. Did you receive your package safe¬ 
ly? I directed it to “Newtown Square,Delaware Co., Pa. 
