BEE. 
331 
connected with digestion, should be well consi- 
dered. lluminating animals may be reckoned 
regurgitating animals, but in them it is for the 
purpose of digestion entirely in themselves. But 
many birds may be called regurgitating animals, 
and in them it is for the purpose of feeding their 
young. Crows fill their fauces, making a kind of 
craw, out of which they throw back the food when 
they feed their young: but the most remarkable 
is the dove tribe, who first fill their craw, and then 
throw it up into the beak of their young. The 
bee has this power to a remarkable degree, not, 
liowever, for the purpose of feeding the young, 
but it is the mode of depositing their store, when 
brought home. 
“ In none of the above-mentioned regurgitating 
animals are the reservoirs containing the food, 
the immediate organ of digestion; nor does the 
reservoir for the honey in the bee appear to be 
its stomach. 
“ The tongue of the bee is the first of the ali- 
mentary organs to be considered: it is of a pecu- 
liar structure, and is probably the largest tongue 
of any animal we know, for its size. It may be 
said to consist of three parts respecting its length, 
having three articulations. One, its articulation 
with the head, which is in some measure similar 
to our larynx. Then comes the body of the 
tongue, which is composed of two jjarts; one, a 
kind of base, on which the other, or true tongue, 
is articulated. This first part is principally a 
Jiorny substance, in which there is a groove, and 
