BEE. 
339 
and these muscles give motion in almost all di- 
rections, but more particularly outwards. It is 
wonderful how deep they will pierce solid bodies 
with the sting. I have examined the length 
they have pierced the palm of the hand, Avhich is 
covered with a thick cuticle ; it has often been about 
the of an inch. To perform this by mere force, 
two things are necessary, power of muscles, and 
strength of the sting; neither of which they seem 
to possess in sufficient degree. I own I do not 
understand this operation. I am apt to conceive 
there is something in it distinct from simple force 
applied to one end of a body; for if this was simply 
the case, the sting of the bee could not be made 
to pierce by any power applied to its base, as the 
least pressure bends it in any direction: it is pos- 
sible the serrated edges may assist, by cutting 
their way in, like a saw. 
‘‘ The apparatus for the poison consists of two 
small ducts, which are the glands that secrete the 
poison : these two lie in the abdomen, among the 
air-cells, &c.: they both unite into one, which 
soon enters into, or forms, an oblong bag, like a 
bladder of urine; at the opposite end of which 
passes out a duct, which runs towards the angle 
where the two stings meet; and entering between 
the two stings, is continued between them in a 
groove, which forms a canal by the union of the 
two stings to this point. There is another duct 
on the right of that described above, which is not 
so circumscribed, and contains a thicker matter, 
which, as far as I have been able to judge, enters 
