!
in many poetical fictions concerning it ; and particularly when th ey affirmed that it
subsisted on dew. Th ey have told us that it liv es among trees,* which circumstance
discountenances the opinion o f those moderns who imagine the g rashoppersf were tbe
Cicadæ o f the ancients.
Neither w ere they ignorant that the males only were furnished with those instruments
which externally appear to produce its sound, or the purpose for which that sound was
emitted though it was reserved for more accurate naturalists to discover the complex
orgaiis by which it was caused and modulated. Aldrovandus, near two centuries ago,
described the lamellæ, which he compares to the fruit o f some herbs, called by modern
botanists Thlaspi.^
Among later naturalists who have noticed the Cicadæ o f foreign countries, are Merian,||
Margravius,^ &c. Merian says, its tune resembles the sound o f a lyre which is
heard at a distance ; and that the Du tch in the plantations o f Surinam (where th ey are
very plentiful) call it the Lyre-player.** Margraviiis, in his natural history o f Brazil,
compares it to the sound o f a vibrating wire ; he says the tune begins with G ir , g id r,
and continues with Sis, sis, sis. One species is called K ak k erlak ft in the Indies, perhaps
because the sound emitted by it may be likened to the pronunciation o f that word. Mr.
* D r . M u r iy n supposed this refers to tlie sraatler b ran ch e s in hedge s, ra th e r th a n to th e lolty tre e s in
forests : we c an n o t entirely coincide with th a t opinion.
t Graskopper. Cicada. T h ey live a lm o st every whe re in h o t countrie s. L e v e l. H is t. A n im a l, co nta ining
th e summe o f all au th o rs an c ien t and mode rn, p . 2 7 4 , ^ c . ^ c .
Cicada, a Sauterelle,® or, a c co rd in g to o th e rs, a ba lm c r ic k e t.— N o n e s t q u o d vulgo, a gra sko p p e r, voc amus ;
sed insectum longé diversum, co rp o re e t ro tu n d io re e t breviore, qui a rbusculis insid e t e t sonum q u a d ru p io ma-
jom in edit, a gra sko p p e r, re c tè lo custum reddide ris, M o r i ex R a y . A in sw o r th .
t X en a rch u s, an old Grecian play -w rite r, u sed to say joco se ly , th a t “ th e C ic adæ were very h a p p y because
they h ad silent wives.” Aristotle also knew tlie s exua l difference o f them ; h e m en tio n s them a s a delicious
food : h e preferred th e males when you n g , b u t more so th e females before she la id h e r eggs.
§ T h a la spi parvum Hieraciifolium, sive Lunariam lu te am Monspel. e t Leucoium luteum ma rinum. Lobel.
S tirp ium A d v e r sa r ia nova, p . 7 4 .— A ld ro v .
II Me rian. Inse c ta Surinamensia .
Georgi Ma rgravii re r. n a t. Brasiliæ. L ib . l . p . 257.
*•’ De Lierman.
++ S co p oli,Carn. Yeats describes th e K a k k e rla k o f th e Ame ric an islands a s a spe c ie s o f B la t ta , c ock-roa che s.
Are th e re n o t two insects o f th a t nam e ?— o ne o f th em is, we believe, a B la t ta . In d e e d , La tre ille ha s made
use o f th e name K a k k e rla k for a gen u s o f B la ttidæ .
■* i'a u ie r e /I e , sorte d ’insecte. A locust or gra sh o p p e r. B o y e r .— C ig a le , u I
tlie anc ients, u nknown in E n g lan d . B o y e r ,
ring insect. The Cic ad a of
Abbot, an accurate ob.server and collector o f natural history in No rth America, has
discovered four new species o f Cicada, one o f them nearly equal in size to our Cicada
Atrata. This, he savs, was found in great abundance one season in some swampy
grounds near the Susquehanna river, and was remarkable on account o f its loud noise,
which at a little distance resembled the ringing o f hor-'ic-hclls.*
Some naturalists have supposed that the sound o f the Cicada is caused by the
flapping o f the lamellæ against the abdomen ; and others, that it is only a noise occasioned
by the rustling o f the segments o f the body in the contractile motion o f that
part. B e ckm an t imagines it is caused by b eating the body and leg s against the wings :
he has endeavoured to explain the meaning o f ancient authors, and deduce its etymology
from that circumstance.|
Reaumur and Roesel have dissected several o f the Cicadæ, and discovered that the
lamellæ cannot have that free motion necessary to cause such a sound ; but that it is
produced by some internal organs o f tbe insect, and only issues through the opening
concealed under the lamellæ as through the mouth o f a musical instrument.§
* Com m u n ic a ted by Mr. Ab b o t, in N o rth Ame ric a , to M r. F ran c illo n , in London.
t R o e s. In s e c ten B e liu s tig u n g .— Cmuszn.Kiai B eckm.v nni, Bornensis, m an u d u c tio n em a d la tin am linguam :
n e c n o n de originibus la tinæ linguæ, &c.
I I t is th e common opinion th a t th e word Cicada h a s its origin from quo d c ito ca d a t, which, a fte r a
g en e ra l in te rp re ta tio n , implies th a t th e Cic adæ soon va n ish , or a re sh o r t-liv e d . B e ckm an ma in ta in s th a t this
opinion is a b su rd , a n d proves th a t its nam e is derived from sin g in g , because. 5; a lu v signifies a sound produced
bv th e motion o f a little s k in ; a n d th a t ciccum o r cicuin is a tliin little skin o f a p om eg ran a te th a t p a rts the
k e rne ls.—B e ckm an n o t k n ow in g th e in se c t, o r n o t imagining th a t tlie l i t t le s k in was a n ap p en d ag e to the
ab d om en , co n c lu d ed it m u s t m e an th e tra n sp a re n t wings, a n d co n sequently th a t th e sound was p ro d u c ed by
b e a tin g th em ag a in s t th e bod y ; b u t this in te rp re ta tio n , if ap plied to th e lamellæ inste ad o f th e wings, will
d ire c tly prove th e origin o f its n am e , a n d knowledge o f th e ancients.
§ F o r th e satisfaction o f th e curious re ad e r, we de ta il th e m o st inte re sting p a rticu la rs conc e rning the
o rganiz a tion o f the se p a rts from R e a um u r ’s H is to ir e des In s e c te s , a n d R o e s e l's Verschiedene auslaendische
so rten von d e a d e n , ^ c .
T h e music o f th e C ic a d a is n o t c au s ed b y th e motion o f th e lam e llæ as some have supposed. R e aum u r
observes, th a t a lth o u g h th e lam e llæ have a kin d o f m oveable h in g e , tliey have also a stiff a n d pointed to o th , or
spine , th a t prevents them from b e ing lifted ta r b a ck ; a n d if stra in ed a re very liable to be broken.
F rom th e ana tom ic a l description o f Roesel, we find th a t, w ithin th e two hollows th a t a re seen when th e
lamellæ are lifted u p , two very sm ooth skins a re v isible ; the se a re highly polished, o f nearly a semicircular
sh ap e , a n d reflect p risma tic colours ; th e re is between the se a h a rd brown p roje c tion, o r corne r wliich unites
with an o th e r piece above them in a lo n g itu d in a l d ire c tio n , to th e u n d e r p a r t o f th e b re a s t. This longitudinal
piece divides a trian g u la r red spa c e o r field into two p a rts , o ne on th e rig lit side, a n d th e o th e r on th e left.
Above the se , in a transve rse d ire c tio n , a re seen two small yellow sk in s ; th e lamellæ in the ir na tu ra l position
conc e a l the se org an s be c ause th ey fold ex a c tly over them.
R e a um u r, in th e exte rior ap p e a ran c e o f the se p a rts , could discover no th in g th a t could lead to dete rmine the