il:!
pbntutioiis o f Surinam (where they are veiy plenty) call it the Ly,-e-player s. Margravius, in his natural
Iiiilory o f Brafil, compares it to the found o f a vibrating wire : he fays Üie tune begins with Gir, guir,
and continues with Sis, f s , f t s . One fpecies is called Kakkerlak ' in the Indies, perhaps becaufe the
found emitted by it may be likened to the pronunciation o f that word. Mr. Abbot, an accurate obferver
and colleétor o f natural Inllory in North America, has difcovered four new fpecies o f Cicada, one o f them
nearly equal m fize to our Cicada Atrata. This, he fays, was found in great abundance one feafon, in fome
fwampy grounds near Sufquehanna river, and was remarkable on account o f their loud noife, which at
a little difiance refembled the ringing o f horfe-lells
Some naturalifts have fuppofed that the found o f the Cicada, is eaufed by the flapping o f the iamelte
againft tile abdomen; and others, th at it is only a noife occafloned by the ruftling o f the fcgments of the
body in the contraflile motion o f that part. Beckman ■ imagines it is canfed by beating the body and legs
againft the wings : he has endeavoured to explain tile meaning o f ancient authors, and deduce its etymology
from that circumftance
Reaumur and Roefel have dilfeaed feveral o f the Cicadæ, and difcovered that the lamellæ cannot have
that free motion neeeifary to caufe fuch a found ; but that it is produced by fome internal organs o f the
in fe a , and only llfues through the opening, concealed under die lamellæ, as through the mouth of a mu-
fical inftrument
The fuppofitions o f thefe authors feem well founded; we have examined many fpecies that were un known
to them, and find the fpine before mentioned, fo placed in many infeds, as to prevent the motion
q Dc Lierman. r Scopdi earn. Yeats deferibes the Kakkerlak of the American iilands as a fpecies of Blatia, cock-roaches.
Are there not two infefts of that name ?— one of them is, we believe, a Blatia.
» Communicated by Mr. Abbot in North America to Mr. Francillon in London.
' Boef. Infeaen Bellujiiguttg.— C h r i s t ia n i B e ckm an n i, Bornenfis, manuduftionem ad latinam linguam : nec non de originibus
latinse lingvx, Icc.
“ It is the common opinion th.->t the word has its origin from quod cUo cadai, which, after a genera! interpretation, implies
that the Cicadæ foon vamjh, or zxtjhort-lived. Beckman maintains that this opinion is abfurd, and proves that its name is derived from
fingmg, becaufe m Ihjy fignifies a found produced by the motion of a little ikin ; and that ckcum or ckum is a thin little Ikin of a pomegranate,
chat parts the kernels.— Beckman not knowing the infeft, or not imagining that the little /kin was an appendage to the abdomen,
concluded it muft mean the tranfparent wings, and confequently that the found was produced by beating them againft the body : but this
interpretation, if applied to the lamell* inftead of the wings, will direftly prove the origin of its name, and knowledge of the ancients.
* For the fatisfaftion of the curious reader, we detail the moft interefting particulars concerning the organization of thefe parts from
Reaumur’s Hijloire des Infeaes, and Roefel’s Verfchkdene aujlaendifche forten von Ckaden, d c .
The mufic of the Cicada is not caufed by the motion of the lamelles, as fome have fuppofed. Reaumur obferves, that although the
lamelles have a kind of moveable hinge, they have alfo a ftiff and pointed tooth, or fpine, that prevents them from being lifted far back ;
and, if ftrained, are very liable to be broken.
From the anatomical defcription of Roefel, we find that, within thc two hollows that are feen when the lamcl!» are lifted up, two very
fmooth Cens are vifible; thefe are highly poliihed, of nearly a femidrcular fliapc, and refleft prlfmatlc colours: there is between thefe
o f the lamellæ. We have a fpecimen from America, which, in addition to tire ufual organs o f found, have
two large hollow protuberances or drums; one on eaoh fide o f tho abdomen; and muft, we imagine,
produce a louder found than any yet difcovered : a fpecies very fimilar to this is alfo brought from New
Holland.
The probofcis of thofe infeas is a hard or horny lube, in which a very acute, flender fucking-pipe is con.
cealed. The horny tube is not unlike a gimlet in form, aud is ufed by thofe creatures to bore through the
bark of trees, to extra ft the juices, on which it feeds. Linnæus has named the fpecies o f one divifion in
his Syftem, llu n n ifc a , becaufe they had been obferved to fly among alh trees, bore many holes in them,
and when the manna had oozed out, return and carry it off.
With this probofcis they bore holes in the fmall twigs of thc extreme branches o f trees, and depofit
their eggs in them, fometimes to the amount o f fix or feven hundred. As each cell contains no more than
from twelve to twenty eggs, it does great damage to the trees they frequent. Stohl fays, « the common
one r which is found at Surinam in the coffee plantations, greatly injures thofe trees ; the females depolit-
iog their eggs iu the young flioots, and in holes they bore with their ftieath. They live on the juices of
the trees.”
. h a u l brown projeffion, or corner wh ich n n iie . w ilh an o th er piece above th em in a lo n g h n d in a l d ire a io n , to th e under pa rt o t
th e hrealt. T h i. lo n si.n din al piece divide, a trian sn lar red fpace or field in to two p a r.,, one o n th e rig h t fide, an d th e o th e r on
th e left. Above thefe, in a tr.n fv etfe direffion, is feen two fmall yellow tk in .; th e lam e l l. in th e ir na tu ra l pofinon conceal
thefe organs becaufe th ey fold ex aftly over th em .
Reanmur in th e exterior appearance of thefe parts, could difcover „ o th in g th a , eonld lead to determine th e o rg an , o f th e
found ■ an d h e w a . n o , fa.Ufied th a t th e fiight motion o f th e lam e l l . on thefe p a rt, could produce .h e loud fioglng noife of
th e Cicada I le opened a few d e a d , on th e back p a rt o t th e body, fo th a t th e in n e r ftme-fure o t the under fide w a , d tfpl.yed,
an d efpecially th e p a ,., co n n e a ed to th e ouriou, org an , h e h a d difcovered u n der th e lam e l l.. A t laft h e dlfeovered two large
m n f d e ,, wh ich a t th e ir p o in t of un io n fo.med a fpace almoft fquate, an d were co n n e a ed w ith th e red triangular field, h e had
obfetved on th e u n der fide : as h e concluded thefe formed a material p ari o f th e o rg an , h e w ilhed to difcover, h e examined th em
attenrively, an d found th a t, b y moving th em backward , and forward,, h e could make a cicada fing rh a. h a d be en dead m any
m o n rh . Alth o u g h th e found w a . n o t ftrong, h tended to prove th a t h e had difcovered th e in ftrum en t th a t produced i t . - I n
an o th er p a rt h e fay. it i . evident th e found is caufed b , th e little flrin, c o n n e a ed to th e m u fcle,, becaufe w h en t h e , w ere tubbed
w ith a b it of paper they emitted th a t k in d of found.
Roefel has difcovered two little pieces o f h o rny fubftance th a t are co nnefted by a fort of fibre w ith in th e fkms, in th e body,
an d h e fuppofe, wh en th l. 1, in mo tio n , it ftrik e, againft th e before-mentioned th in fk in ,, and produce, a found, by th e fame
m e an , as a hollow body, or d rum , wh en fttuek with a ftickr and alfo th a t th i , noife may be varied or modulated b y a fiight
morion of th e lam e l l., h u t can n o t be produced w ith o u t th e iflifl.n c e o f th e in te rn al ne rve , and mu fcle, c o n n e a ed w ith thc
organs firft defcribed.
A u th o r, agree th a t th e C ic a d . of h o t countries emit th e loudeft found. I t a p p ea r, from th e p aper, of M t. Sm eethman
(who lefidcd a confide,able tim e in Attica) pnblifiied b y Mr. Drury, th a t th e found o f fome k in d , peculiar to th a t p a rt of th e
world i, fo loud a , to be heard a t h a lf a mile diflance ; an d th a t th e finging of one w ith in doom, filence, a wh o le company—
T h e fame attentive obfetver fays, the open parts o t th e country are never w ith o u t th e ir mufic, fome finging in th e evening and
Others only in th e day.
y La Cigale Vieilleufe. Cicad. Tibicien.