[1] Joseph Jacotot (1770–1840), a famous French educator, whose methods aroused a great deal of discussion. He propounded other more or less paradoxical maxims, such as, “All men have an equal intelligence,” “A man can teach what he does not know,” and so on.—Translator’s Note. [↑]
[2] Pietro Andrea Mattioli (1500–1577), known as Matthiolus, a physician and naturalist who practised at Siena and Rome. His Commentaries on Dioscorides were published in Italian, at Venice, in 1544 and in Latin in 1554.—Translator’s Note. [↑]
[3] Guillaume Rondelet (1507–1566), a physician and naturalist, author of various works on medicine and of an Universa piscium historia (Lyons, 1554) which earned him the title of father of ichthyology. Rabelais introduces him into his Pantagruel by the name of Rondibilis.—Translator’s Note. [↑]
[4] “Cicadæ eaten roasted are good for pains in the bladder.” [↑]
CHAPTER IV
THE CICADA: HIS MUSIC
By his own confession, Réaumur never heard the Cicada sing; he never saw the insect alive. It reached him from the country round Avignon preserved in spirits and a goodly supply of sugar. These conditions were enough to enable the anatomist to give an exact description of the organ of sound; nor did the master fail to do so: his penetrating eye clearly discerned the construction of the strange musical-box, so much so that his treatise upon it has become the fountain-head for any one who wants to say a few words about the Cicada’s song.
With him the harvest was gathered; it but remains to glean a few ears which the disciple hopes to make into a sheaf. I have more than enough of what Réaumur lacked: I hear rather more of these deafening symphonists than I could wish; and so I shall perhaps obtain a little fresh light on a subject [[59]]that seems exhausted. Let us therefore go back to the question of the Cicada’s song, repeating only so much of the data acquired as may be necessary to make my explanation clear.
In my neighbourhood I can capture five species of Cicadæ, namely, Cicada plebeia, Lin.; C. orni, Lin.; C. hematodes, Lin.; C. atra, Oliv.; and C. pygmæa, Oliv. The first two are extremely common; the three others are rarities, almost unknown to the country-folk.