4:0 Cincinnati Society of Natural History. 



portion of the peristome a slight fold, slightly contracting the aper- 

 ture at the margin ; peristome simple, heavily thickened near the mar- 

 gin, the callus extending over the parietal wall; 

 aperture contracted by five prominent dentacles 

 seated on the callus, one prominent on the parietal 

 wall, two on the columella, the lower being the 

 smaller of the two, and two on the other portion 

 of the peristome, more deeply seated in the throat, 

 and occasionally one or two A^er}- minute rudiments 

 on the peristome. Length 1.56, diam. .84 mill. 



This shell is found on both sides of the Ohio 

 River, near Cincinnati, stationed in deep beds of 

 damp leaves, in woods, somewhat close to the 

 ground. It may most easily' be mistaken for Pupa 

 pentodon, but is much smaller and proportional- 

 ly broader, and its aperture is obstructed by a less number of denta- 

 cles than are usually seen in specimens of the latter species. 



There are specimens in my own cabinet, and in the collections of 

 Jas. Lewis, M. D., Mohawk, N. Y., and of the Cincinnati Society of 

 Natural Histor3\ 



Read before the Cincinnati Society of Natural History, January- 2, 

 1877. 



ON THE TONGUE {LINGUA) OF 802IE HY3IEN0PTERA. 

 By V. T. Chambers. 



What do bees eat ? And how do the}' eat it ? 



One would think that with the patient study and observation that 

 these little creatures have received since first— it may be in Paleolethic or 

 some previous caudate period — man tasted honey, these questions ought 

 long ago to have been definitely settled. Over a century ago, Reaumer 

 wrote : " II est etonnant que ceux qui ont etudie les abeilles, n'a}' ent 

 pas ete detenuines par un infinite de faits, a chercher la bouche dont 

 nous verront de voir la position ;" and thereupon he proceeded to settle 

 it, as he no doubt supposed, for all time; but it is by no means settled 

 yet. A long list of great names in entomology and microscopy might 

 be made, it is true, of those who agree with Reaumer and Savigny, or 

 at least who follow them, as to the structure of a bee's tongue, and con- 

 sequently as to its mode of feeding, and the nature of its food to some 

 extent. With the question as to what a bee eats we have nothing now 

 to do except in so far as it affects the question of its mode of feeding, 

 and therefore bears upon the structure of the mouth parts, which is 

 the question for our present consideration. 



