336 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



You have now had a modern opinion as to the origin and 

 development of the Hymenoptera, and, in conclusion, I shall 

 bring my address to a close by a quotation from Cowan, as to 

 the opinion held by the ancients, respecting the development of 

 the bees and wasps : 



He says : "It was the general opinion of antiquity that Bees 

 were produced from putrid bodies of cattle. Varro says they 

 are called Eouytivat by the Greeks, because they arise from pu 

 trefied bullocks. In another place he mentions their arising 

 from these putrid animals, and quotes the authority of Archelaus, 

 who says Bees proceed from bullocks, and Wasps from horses : 

 Virgil, however, is much more satisfactory, for he gives us the 

 recipe in all its details for producing these insects : 



"First, in a place, by nature close, they build 

 A narrow flooring, gutter'd, wall'd, and til'd. 

 In this, four windows are contriv'd, that strike 

 To the four winds oppos'd, their beams oblique. 

 A steer of two years old they take, whose head 

 Now first with burnished horns begins to spread : 

 They stop his nostrils, while he strives in vain 

 To breathe free air, and struggles with his pain. 

 Knock'd down he dies : his bowels bruis'd within, 

 Betray no wound on his unbroken skin. 

 Extended thus, in his obscene abode, 

 They leave the beast; but first sweet flowers are strow'd; 

 Beneath his body, broken boughs, and thyme, 

 And pleasing Cassia, just renew'd in prime. 

 This must be done, ere spring makes equal day, 

 When western winds on curling waters play : 

 Ere painted meads produce their flowery crops, 

 Or swallows twitter on the chimney tops. 

 The tainted blood, in this close prison pent, 

 Begins to boil, and thro' the bones ferment. 

 Then wondrous to behold, new creatures rise, 

 A moving mass at first and short of thighs ; 

 Till shooting out with legs, and imp'd with wings. 

 The grubs proceed to Bees with pointed stings : 

 And more and more affecting air, they try 

 Their tender pinions and begin to fly." 



