f ' ■ I
vocal kind, or that it is peculiar to tliis Chinefe infeft to be furniihed with lamellas that caufe a found.
The latter account confirms fucli conjefture, by alluding in a fpecific manner to tlie miJy Cicada, as to an
infeft defcribed in a former part o f the work. We muft remark, that not only the males o f tlie fpecies
mentioned by th at author, are furniflied with tliofe lamellæ, but tlie whole o f that feftion of the Linnæan
Cicadæ which Fabricius has called Tettiogonia d. The males of the fpecies included in the other feftions
o f that genus are certainly furniflied with them alfo; though fome o f them are too minute to be obferved
without a glafs. Thefe lamellæ vary in fize in different fpecies; but the accounts we have o f them from
travellers in foreign countries, and naturalifts both ancient and modern, prove they all emit a certain found
to allure the female. As we are unable to afcertain the Chinefe fpecies Sir George mentions, neither
figure or defcription accompanying liis account o f it, we muft therefore, fpeak generally o f thc whole
genus, and then confine our remarks to thofe fpecies we are acquainted with from China. Among thefe
are Q.fpendidula, fanguinea, and atrata. The latter, we believe, is the largeft fpecies o f the Chinefe Ci-
cadæ known in Europe.
Some fjiecies o f this tribe were known to the ancients. W ith them it was the emblem o f happinefs
and eternal youth * ; and i f we examine the legends o f pagan mythology, we find they were deemed a
race o f creatures beloved by gods ^ and men. The Athenians w’ore golden Cicadæ in their hair, to denote
their national antiquity ; or that like thofe creatures tliey w’cre the f i r f lorn o f the earth ; and the poets
feigned that i t partook u f the perfeftion o f their deities s. Anacreon depiftures in glowing colours the
uninterrupted felicity o f this creature : his ode to the Cicada is appropriate to our enquiry
d This includes all the larger fpecies of Linnæan Cicadæ, fuch as C. Orni, TilkUn, reticulata, ksmatodes, Jiriduh, See. See. for in fom*
editions of thc Syftetna N atu r* of Linnæus we find Cicada NoSiluea, which in later editions are the Fulgores, and alfo the C. cruciate*,
mannifera, /fumantes and difiex<e included in one genus.
< Probably becaufe ic was fuppofed to live only a fljorc time. The renewal of youth is UluftraCed by the ftory of the Tithonus
transformed by Aurora into a Cicada.
g Thefe pagan deities were without flcfh or blood, and compofed of aerial and watery humours. Such they imagined the moifture of
the Cicada, and perhaps for that reafon firft affigned it a place among their demi-gods.
b Happy creature ! what below
Can more happy live than thou ?
Seated on thy leafy throne,
(Summer weaves thc verdant crown,)
Sipping o’er the pearly lawn
The fragrant neitar of the dawn ;
Little talcs thou lov’ft to fing.
Tales of mirth—an infedt k in g :
Thine the treafures of the field.
All th y own the feafons yield j
Nature paints for thee the year,
Songfter to the fliepherds dear:
Innocent, of placid fame,
Wliac of man can boaft the iame ?
Thine the laviihed voice of praife,
Harbinger of fruitful days;
Darling of the tuneful nine,
1 Phcrhus is thy fire divine;
Fhabus Co thy notes has giv’n
Mufic from thc fpheres of heav’n :
Happy moft, as firft of earth.
Ail thy hours are peace and miith;
Cares nor pains to thee belong.
Thou alone a rt ever young;
Thine the pure immortal vein,
Blood nor flefli thy life fuftain;
Rich in fpirics— health thy feaft,
Thou’rt a demi-god a t ka ft. G r e e n ’s Ti.injl. OJe 45.
In the infant ftate of mufic, men, feem to have preferred the natural founds o f fome animals, to thofe
of their uncouth inftruraents. W e cannot otherwife account for the extravagant praife, beftowed on the
noife o f this little creature. It is true, authors agree th at the founds of fome kinds are exceeding loud and.
harmonious, and in the early ages o f the world thefe might have a powerful influence on the human
mind. It is related that the ancient Locri, a people o f Greece, were fo charmed with the fong o f the
Cicada, that they erefted a ftatue to its honour h
The ancients had attentively obferved the manners o f its life, though they indulged in many poetical
fiftions concerning it; and particularly, when they affirmed that it fubfifted on dew. They have told us
that it lives among trees which circumftance difcountenances the opinion of thofe moderns, who imagine
the graflioppers 1 were the Cicadæ of the ancients.
Neither were they ignorant th at thc males only were furniihed with thofe inftruments which externally,
appear to produce its found, or the purpofe for which that found was emitted ; though it was referved
for more accurate naturalifts to difcover the complex organs by which it was caufed and modulated,
Aldrovandus, near two centuries ago, defcribed tlie lamellæ, which he compares to the fru it of fome herbs,
called by modern botanifts Thlafpi ».
Among later naturalifts who have noticed the Cicadæ o f foreign countries are Merlan®, M argravius p, & c .
Merian fays, its tune refembles the found of a lyre, which is heard a t a diftance; and th at the D utch in the
1 Some fay tliaC once a certain player of Locri, contefting in the art of miific with another, would have loft the viflory, by the breaking
of two firings of his inftrumcnt; but a Cicada flew to his aid, and refting on the broken inftrument, fung fo well, th a t the Locrian was declared
viiftor. Thc Locrians ereited a ftatue to the Cicada as a teftiraony of their gratitude. I t reprefented the player with the infc£t on
his inftrumcnt.
k Dr. Martyn fuppofed this refers to the fmaller branches in hedges, rather than to the lofty trees in forefts: we c.innot entirely coincide
with that opinion.
I Grajhcpper. Cicada. They live almoft every where in hot countries. Lovel. Hi/l. Animal, containing the fumme of all authors
ancient and modern, f . 274, d c . d c .
Cicada, a Sauterelle*, or, according to others, a balm cricket.—Non eft quod \\ilgo,!tgrajhoffer, vocamiis; fed infeitum longe divcrfum,
corpore ct rotundiore et breviore, qiii arbufculis infidet et fonum quadruplo majorum edit, a grajhopptr, reile locighim reddideris, Mori ex
Ray. Ainfworth,
Xenarchus, an old Grecian play-writer, ufed to fay jocofeiy that “ the Cicad* were very happy becaufe they had fiicni wives.”
Ariftotle alfo knew the fcxual difference of th em ; he mentions them as a delicious food: he preferred thc males when young, but more fo
the females before ftie laid her eggs.
n Thahfpi parvum Hicraciifolium, five Lunariam luteam Monfpel. et Leucoium luteum marinum. Label. Stirfium AJverfaria nova,
p. 74.— Aldrov.
" Mcriar*. Infefta Surinamcnfia.
P Georgi Mavgravii rcr. nat. Brafilije. Lib . 7. p . 257.
• Santere/lr, forte d’lnfcfte. A locuft or gralhopper. Foyer..— -Cigale, a flying infeft. T !« Cicada of the ancients, unknown in
England. Royer,