PROTECTIVE DEVICES 



55 



are turned back like those of a fishhook, and prevent 

 the sting from being easily withdrawn. When the in- 

 sect is prepared -to sting, one of these spears, having a 

 little longer point than the other, first darts into the 

 flesh, and being fixed by its foremost barb, the other 

 strikes in also, and they alternately penetrate deeper 



Fio. 46. The sting of the worker bee, and its appendages. (Enlarged, from 

 Glrard.) a, sting ; 6, poison sac; c c, poison glands ; d d, secreting bags. 



and deeper, till they acquire a firm hold of the flesh 

 with their barbed hooks. Meanwhile, the poison is 

 forced to the end of the spears, by miu-h the same process 

 which carries the venom from the tooth of a viper when 

 it bites." (GIKAKD.) 



