Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 24, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 January 1915 — Page 2

INSECT MUSICIANS AND THEIR AUDIENCES

tws NSECTS are a silent people ■ in the main. Many of them AtM pass through life without uttering a single sound But there are some interesting exceptions to this rule. yV'k' The harvest flies, or cicala*' das, for example, are notoriously noisy, the “sons” of some species having been compared to the shrill whistle of a locomotive engine. They are very abundant in the warmer regions of both hemispheres. The males alone are tuneful —a fact which was commented upon by certain of the Greek poets and philosophers, one of whom writes: “Happy the cicadas live, since they all have voiceless wives.” Strictly speaking, however, the cicada is not a vocalist, but an instru-

mentalist The sounds that it makes are due to a special_ mechanism which resembles a* pair of kettledrums. These have their place in cavities on each side of the thorax, and are protected beneath by large plates which may possibly act also as sounding boards. The membranes of the drums are not beaten, but are thrown into rapid vibration by a special set of voluntary muscles, the result being the

loud, shrill music for which the cicada is famous. Apart from the cicadas, the only other notably sonorific insects are fouqd in the group which naturalists term the “leaping orthoptera”—i. e. the grasshoppers, crickets and their allies. In these instances the analogy of the drum must be discarded for that of the fiddle. L<et us take "first the grasshoppers. Everyone has listened to their chirping, and perhaps some inquiring spirits have observed that the sound is always accompanied by a kind of swaying of the insect’s body, and an alternate movement of its hindlegs. But the full inwardness of the matter can only be appreciated by the aid of the microscope. On a certain ridge on the inner side of the grasshopper's hind femur—.the thigh of the great leaping leg—there is a row of extremely modified hairs. This ridge represents the bow of the soundproducing apparatus. By the movement of the leg it is rubbed to and fro against a prominent nervure or “vein" of the closed fore-wing; and this fiddling process gives rise to the. grasshopper’s well-known "song.” “Stridulation.” Naturalists call the method "stridulation." In the case of the crickets it is managed in a different way, viz. by rubbing one wing over the other. Each fore-wing of the male is furnished with a vein which is minutely ridged or filelike on its under side; and this bow plays upon a vein on the upper surface of the wing beneath it. As the apparatus is in duplicate—each wing having its vein and bow — the insect is ambidextrous, so to speak. In practice, however, it is found that the right wing is generally, though not always, uppermost. The reverse is true of the long-horn, treefrequenting grasshoppers. Their solitary filelike bow is found on the underside of the left fore-wing, which is always uppermost. In these insects —and in the crickets to a lesser extent —the overlapping fore-wings form a kind of resounding chamber which intensifies the volume Of each note that the fiddler produces. Time and Temperament.

Dr. S. H. Scudder, an eminent observer of insect life in America, has expressed some of the songs of crickets and grasshoppers in musical notation. He has also recorded the curious tact that there is a distinct relation between the rapidity of note production and the temperature. On ■warm days, when the sun is shining brightly, these little musicians fiddle away with all their might, whereas in dull and chilly weather their execution is slow and mournful. Many crickets, however, remain, silent until the shades of evening begin to fall, and then begin loudly to serenade their lady-loves. For this is really the outcome of the whole matter. Only in rare instances do female insects possess the gift of melodious expression. As with the singing of birds, so with the drumming and fiddling of insects, each is essentially the , language of courtship. Loye makes the world go round! Crickets have been observed to listen eagerly—one might say, critically—to the performances of their wooers, as if anxious to get the full

SUBSTITUTE FOR POTATOES

Throughout the South a new vegetable is rapidly appearing in the market to take the place, to some extent at least, of the potato. This is Hie dasheen, a tuber introduced by the department of agriculture from the tropics. It resembles the potato in many respects and in many tropical and ‘ - - SA*- "~jntries displaces it en- _ or ha&, -tagged-that housekeeping; easily grown in

benefit of every note produced. But how does an insect “listen?” In most insects the auditory organs if they can be demonstrated at all, take the form of excessively minute structures connected with nerves. These structures, which are microscopic hairs, and cavities, are found most commonly upon antennae, but they may also occur upon other parts of the body. So far as the writer is aware, the cicadas have not been shown to possess any specialized “ears.” We are thus left to assume that they gain their- impressions of sound by means of scattered sense organs such as those which have just been mentioned. Indeed, some authorities are of opinion that cicadas do not hear at all in our sense of the word, but that they “feel" rhythmical vibrations. Insects With Ears. With grasshoppers and crickets, however, the case is quite different. These insects undoubtedly possess

ATTACKED BY TINY RATTLER

Venomous Pygmy Reptile Was Hidden in a Log Near King Snake Eggs. In a small pond we captured several of the banded water snakes (Tropidonotus facciatus). One, a large and richly marked specimen, was lying as he was among the short growth of vegetation. I nearly stepped on him before I saw him. On placing the forked stick over him he wound up it as far as he could and struck viciously at everything in reach, but was soon grasped by the neck and placed Into a bag. These water snakes, though nonvenomous, were by a great majority, of the people we met thought to be very poisonous. Many snakes were uncovered in turning over the fans; mostly very young cottonmouths, which very strongly resemble the young copperheads (Ancistrodon coritortrix) and the pygmy rattlers (Sistrurus milarius). This diminutive rattlesnake would generally be found coiled on the projecting base of a palm and covered by a palm fan. None that we caught made any attempt to escape, but they were ready to do mischief if they had the chance. They were so small, generally from 12 to 18 inches, that their rattling could not be heard unless held close to the ear. —t:

My partuer had a narrow escape from being bitten by one of them. He had broken open a hollow log cm the

the South and Southw* > promises to respond t even better than the pota able for a peculiar nutting, ~uuthe young leaves, when properly cooked, make an excellent substitute for spinach. Neither tuber nor leaves, Jiowever, should ever be tasted when., raw. The acrid principle, characterix4ng the plant can ba. neutralised only . by cooking a while. In preparing the . '• *’ . frsi '

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND.

ears—elaborate structures admirably adapted to receive and transmit pound waves. But the external openings of these organs are most surprisingly located. In crickets and long-horn grasshoppers there are two curved slits In the tibia or shin of the foreleg, one on each side, just below the “knee.” These are the openings of the ears! Each slit gives access to a tympanum, or “drum,” which is connected with air spaces and nerve endings. In the case of the short-horn grasshoppers, the ears occupy an equally unexpected position, viz. at the base of the abdomen. The opening on either side may be found beneath the wings, just above the attachment of the great hind-leg. It will be well, in conclusion, to emphasize the fact that the noises made by insects are strictly instrumental. No insect has a “voice” —that' is, the power of producing sounds by the expulsion of air from the lungs through the throat and mouth. Indeed, insects have no lungs, nor do they use their mouths for breathing. On the contrary, they take in atmospheric air through a number of small openings along the sides of the body. These openings are called "spiracles.” They give access to an elaborate system of minute pipes, or "tracheae,” which ramify among the insect’s living tisi sues and convey to them the oxygen necessary for the discharge of the various vital processes. Just within each spiracle there is an ingenious little valve which is opened and closed by a muscular contraction. The circulation of air, to and fro through the spiracles, is kept up by a constant palpitating movement of the whole abdomen. This may be seen, for example In a wasp that is regaling itself in the dish of fruit on our table; but In the case of a hibernating queen wasp, the body Is practically motionless—the reason being that the insect’s dor mancy is so complete that It requires scarcely any oxygen to continue In being. The nearest approach to a true "voice” among Insects is the humming sound produced by a mechanism within the spiracles. If we shut up a bee in a box, we shall find that it is able to hum loudly, even though it may be unable to agitate its wings. The mechanism is too complicated to describe here; but it may be roughly likened to a wind Instrument, Buch as a cornet.

inside of which were a number of empty shells of snake eggs—probably the king snake or blacksnake —and as he reached to pick one of them up for closer examination he caught sight of a pygmy rattler colled partly under some pieces of the rotting core of the log and jerked his hand away just in time, for the little snake struck viciously, narrowly missing it. We broke open all the hollow logs which we found, and in doing so found several very fine specimens of the king snake (Ophibolus getulus). Usually when we found one we would find another one very close by. These snakes, while of a rather quarrelsome disposition among themselves or with other snakes, are remarkably gentle with man. Not one of the several we caught made any attempt to bite, nor showed any nervousness. When handled they would usually coll tightly around the arm, probably to prevent falling, and then would start slowly on an exploring expedition. These snakes are powerful constrictors, feeding principally upon obnoxious rodents and other snakes; they have been known to kill the deadly diamondback rattlesnake * (CJrotolus adamanteus), although they have no preference and will as readily kill and devour the-ndh-venomous species. From "Snake Hunting in Florida,” in the New York Sun.

Old Acoma.

Acoma, N. M., an Indian pneblo, is the oldest inhabited settlement in the United States.

sub-tropical c °, ti ~'9Bful C f sal soda to tirely- Expsritne. sL ntß the hands dasheen can irritant Vkh. Themselves tired at sitting "still, wandered forth the otherj evening, and returned a short time later to their commanding officer. “Sahib,” they said gravely, “we found a man with a rifle; here is the Ah to what became of the man, we left !a unpleasant suspense, hat doubtless the man la not.

BEST OF SANDWICHES

SOME NEW IDEAB EVOLVED BY CLEVER COOKS. fmprovemsnts In the Popular Tlt-Blt Known as the “Club" Have Been Made —Oysters Used In Place of Chicken.

Tea rooms in the big city shopping districts are serving some new varieties of the always popular club sandwich. While the principal ingredients remain the same each style of dab sandwich differs from its fellows in some detail which makes it distinctive. What is known as a French club sandwich is served with a toasted English muffin substituted for the usual slices of toasted bread. It is set down before one garnished with a few sprays of parsley pressed deep into the yielding surface of the half muffin which tops the substantial filling of chicken, bacon, mayonnaise, lettuce and sliced tomato. Watercress 1b used in similar fashion, the spray of green in either caae being embedded in the toasted muffin so firmly that it seems to be a little flower holder. Two halves of crumpet are used for a similar sandwich and filled with the same combination, making a sandwich still more hearty. Where toasted bread is used variety is given to the club sandwich by reason of some other meat or fish being substituted for the usual foundation layer of breast of chicken. Thinly sliced duck is deliciouß with the bacon and other ingredients, and turkey is also another good substitute. Strips of rare beef, either cold or freshly cut from a hot roast and moistened with horseradish may also be used, and strips of rare steak are equally appropriate.

An oyster club sandwich has for its distinctive feature two or three large fried oysters. These are laid on the under slice of toaßt, sprinkled with lemon juice and then topped with two Btrips of bacon, two lettuce leaves, a spoonful of mayonnaise and then the second slice of toast. For those who do not care for fried oysters the oyster club sandwich comes in still a different form, the oysters being poached in their own liquor until the gills curl, when they are drained of moisture and used for the foundation of the sandwich. If preferred oyster club sandwiches may be served with Russian dressing instead of mayonnaise, as the addition of the tomato flavor in the chili sauce is particularly agreeable with oysters, either fried or poached. Sardine club sandwich is made of large boned sardines sprinkled with lemon juice and arranged as usual and finely cut, lobster, either hot or cold, offers still another variety. The egg club sandwich is usually served with a basis of an egg fried on both sides, and seasoned well with salt, pepper and paprika before the other materials for the sandwich are added. Hard-boiled eggs, sliced or chopped, result in a sandwich less rich. In both cases the eggs should be served hot.

Economy Helps.

In most households greater economy of time and energy can be practiced by cooking larger amounts of food at one time, and this means a saving in the fuel bills as well. Enough mayonnaise dressing for all the salads you will make in a week can he made on one day. It is just aa easy to cook a kettleful of potatoes that will last two dayß as it is to prepare only enough for the midday meal. There is hardly a vegetable one can think of that cannot be cooked in large quantities to advantage and that will not lend itself readily to wanning over in a variety of ways. And on those days when the oven is being used for baked dishes in which the vegetables play an important part, double portions of puddings should be baked. . What is not required that day can be served a few days later, steamed over the vegetable pot, and it will be Just as appetizing, if not more so, as If freshly made.

Fruit Cream.

Cook the juice of three lemons and three oranges with two cupfuls of sugar, set aside to cool. Soften two tablespoonfuls of gelatin with milk, then heat over hot water until dissolved. Whip two cupfuls of cream, add the fruit juice and gelatin, stir until well blended, then pile high in a deep dish or mold if preferred.

Steamed Dried Beef.

Here is an unusual recipe, but a very good one. Prepare a spiced vinegar as for fruit pickles, only less highly sear Boned. Cut very, very thin slices of dried beef in narrow strips, diamond or any fancy shape, and cut with scissors. Steam the beef in the vinegar for one hour. Serve hot with toasted wafers.

Stuffed Celery.

Wash tender celery hearts and put them into cold water to become crisp. fresh cream cheese, then add chopped nuts and chopped olives to taste. Stuff the celery Just before serving and serve with toasted crackers, ■

For Removing Machine Grease.

To remove machine grease from delicate fabrics use cold water, am the ootor to run , ” .

At the Tomb of Jondh

AS A BOY —when I read of Jonah and the whale—l never dreamed that one day I was to stand at Jonah’s tomb and see Arabs worship him as a saint, writes Frederick Slsupich in the Los Angeles Times. The famous old prophet who rode In the fish is buried at Mosul, in far-off Mesopotamia. Mosul itself, from which our word “muslin” came, stands on the foaming Tigris opposite old Nineveh. And here is a sketch of what life is like today in the town where Jonah rests. It is a dirty, crowded town, is Mosul, with 50,000 people jammed inside its medieval walls. Its narrow, warped streets are no more than crooked alleys that wander aimlessly through the town —dusty in summer and seas of mud in winter. So narrow are these passages that two loaded donkeys, if they chance to meet, cannot pass till one donkey has been backed into a doorway. Mosul’s houses are Moorish style—two stories, few windows, an open court inside and flat roofs with parar pets —so that the family may sleep on the roof in summer. The main door to each house is a huge afTair, studded with great bolts and barred at night like the gate to a fortress —suggesting the old days of Mongol invasions. To accommodate its important caravan trade, Mosul has built up many caravanserais, or “resthouses.” With Naomi, my Bagdad boy, I spent my first night at Mosul in one of these singular khans, as the natives call them. The khan is a sort of compound or stockade of mud walls, without a roof. Around the inside of the walls runs a row of little cells, to which travelers are assigned. In the middle of the inclosure is a great platform, on which are piled the bales of freight taken from the pack

animals, and around the edge of this platform runs a mud manger, from which the beasts are fed. These historic caravanserais form one of the most picturesque features of middle eastern life. No traveler, from Marco Polo down to date, has crossed Mesopotamia without recording his impression of the unspeakably filthy and noisy “khans.” Naomi and His Sister*. Next morning early Naomi and I left the pesthouse that had sheltered us, and started out afoot to do Mosul- Naomi hunted up his Telkafl relatives, whom he had not seen for many years, and of course the master then became the servant’s guest, for a few hours at least. We ate preserved sweets, pistachio nuts, manna, nought, and many such delicacies for which Mosul is noted; we drank sweetened rosewater and smoked countless cigarettes, and I to these curious, prying, but polite people all the secrets or my family for three generations back. Naomi’s numerous sisters, unveiled and good to look at, came shyly out and sat on the rug he placed for them at a proper distance from me. Being native Christians, they could show their faces without being disgraced. They®wore baggy blue trousers long Mother Hubbard gowns- erf*-some dark cql° r » y©H° w stockings and fancy slippers all coveredwith Feads. Their big brown eyes gazed steadily at me with that luster that is bought in western worlds at the price of belladonna, and their white teeth glistened in beautiful perfection —in a land where no dentifrice was ever seen. From the main bazaar I wandered on through the town, followed by the mwi crowd of curioUß Arabs and Kurds, and then continued on my walk toward the river. And here I beheld 1 had read that In. early Assyrian

days warriors used to cross the Tigris, even in heavy armor, by swimming on inflated goat skins; but I had no idea that the practice still survived. So I was astonished on arriving at the river hank to see an old man walk calmly down to the water’s edge, blow up a goat skin which had hung over his shoulder, wade out into the river waist deep and then lie down on the Inflated skin and begin to paddle leisurely across. While I fetill watched him, two women came down, carrying skins, already blown up, and followed' the old man's course across the Tigris; somehow they seemed to keep the| bobbing skins easily balanced under, their bodies, and thus supported swam ! slowly, without tiring. , Mosul Washerwomen. And all up and down the river banks | were hundreds of round-limbed Kurd-! ish women washing clothes. There, must have been half a thousand, all I shouting, plunging and wringing a mul-j titude of garments. With skirts tucked! high above their knees and no sign of! yashmak or veil, they were a noisy,, easy-going set, dispelling the illusion, that in the East all women are se-i eluded or eternally draped from head to foot. Long strings of pack donkeys, driven by noisy, swearing Kurdish muleteers, came down to the river to drink, and fusillades of jocular abuse passed between these ruffians and the washerwomen. Higher up the river bank, and all along the waterfront, ran a long row of coffee shops, dance halls and other resorts. Till late at night these places are running full blast, the din of tomtoms, native fiddles and the harsh voices of the painted women who dance and sing, making amusement for the men of Mosul. They like excitement, these Kurds and Arabs, and crude and amateurish as their methods seem to us, they have

IN A MOSUL COFFEE HOUSE

never seen anything better and hence are pleased. Over Odd Bridge to Jonah's Tomb. A unique bridge spans the Tigris at Mosul for which a parallel cannot be found anywhere In the world. It is built partly of masonry, partly of wood, and for some distance is of the pontoon type. First comes a 100-foot stretch of masonry pier, then a bridge of boats 400 feet long and crossing the main channel; then comes another stone pier of 150 feet, leading to an 800-foot ■'Stretch of brick arches, followed at last by another stone pier nearly 200 feet long. It seems as if the builders changed their minds several times before finishing the odd structure.

It is across this bridge that one goes to explore Nineveh, where Botta and Layard made their sensational discoveries 50 years ago. The whole dry, brown plain about Mosul is a vast forest of ancient mounds, thick with signs of long-forgotten inhabitants. - Ninevah is not even a memory with the wild, ignorant tribes who roam the desert of old Assyria. At one edge of its ruins stands the little village of “Nebi Yunus," and the reputed tomb of Jonah. The identity of Jonah seems alone preserved —and he was <me of the least in his day. At night I walked back to Mosul. I looked back once, and the setting sun was reflected from the dome of Jonah’s tomb. What fame this man won, by riding in a fish! Sennacherib is forgotten, but all the natives know “Yunus’’ and the tale of the bi« fish. On the morning of the Great Day, Jonah may be put in the dock with Doctor Cook. But for the present, the people are with him and he wears his medals unchallenged.

Trtcphonae^lwJShlle.^ I operated by an English company.