240 Rev. J. Macgarvie on the Brown Hornet of 



The stings of these insects are extremely painful, causing a 

 fulness and deadness of the place affected, that is almost intoler- 

 able. Their sight is sharp and quick. They fly directly to 

 the face. One man was stung, not long ago, in the centre of 

 the eye. They attack the cattle in the field, which are terrified 

 for them, except the pig, which is blessed with a happy insensi- 

 bility to all their attacks, as he merely shakes his sides and his 

 tail, and continues to eat peaches as before. 



This insect has a beautiful appearance in the living state, 

 having a number of yellowish-brown segments, on a black 

 ground, around his body ; his legs and wings being of the same 

 colour ; a fine yellowish colour presents itself on each shoulder, 

 at the root of the wings, and there is a yellow stripe on the 

 forehead. The rest of the body is a beautiful velvet-black, and 

 the tips of the wings are tinged with a light purple colour. It 

 has six legs, the two first of which it uses with great dexterity as 

 hands. They may be seen frequently rubbing them, and thrust- 

 ing their foot into their mouth, to besmear it with an unctuous 

 substance, which may enable it to seize a firmer hold of its ob- 

 ject. 



It is from the structure of the fore-legs, which are admirably 

 adapted for the purpose, that, in my opinion, the hexagonal 

 cells derive their character of regularity. When the sun is hot, 

 you may see the insect traversing round his cell, seizing the edge 

 of it in his mouth, and adding a small piece to the sides. When 

 he has done this, he sets his body close to a side, and clasping the 

 cell firmly in his fore-arms, he continues rubbing it upwards 

 and downwards for a considerable time ; and as one cell is al- 

 ways a little higher than the one next it, he proceeds thus from 

 side to side, and gives a six-sided form simply by rubbing and 

 working upon the soft materials with his arms. A very little 

 attention will shew, too, that he can give it no other form than 

 this or the circle. For his arms are so constructed, that if he 

 acts uniformly upon any of these sides or angles, as we have 

 repeatedly seen him do, he must form a hexagonal figure, if the 

 materials are pliant. 



The arms are first composed of a joint near the body, ex- 

 tending a little outward, and moveable in every direction. To 

 this is attached the arm, which is smooth, and somewhat power- 



