NATURE' 8 FIRST PAPER MAKERS 443 



front of the body which fills the open part of the cell. 

 At till events, the little heads are conveniently placed 

 for the nursing workers, who move over the surface of 

 the comb pressing into open baby mouths the nourish- 

 ing ' pap ' which has been prepared for them by the 

 very primitive mode of chewing." 



"Does thee know what sort of food this hornet pap 

 is composed of?" asked Aunt Hannah. 



"It is probably the juices of insects for the most 

 part. The proper food of hornets, wasps and other 

 Vespidse is somewhat in doubt. In spring and early 

 summer they feed on the sweets of flowers, but later 

 in the season develop a taste for fruit, and attack 

 strawberries, plums, grapes, pears — even entering 

 houses to help themselves to dishes on the table. But 

 they are carniverous in their appetite also ; they will 

 eat raw meat, as you may see by visiting our village 

 butcher shops. They are insectiverous, too, and carry 

 war into the insect world, their weapon not being their 

 sting as with their relations the Mud-daubers and 

 Digger Wasps, but their formidable jaws. They fall 

 upon flies and butterflies, bite off their wings, feet 

 and head and devour the trunk. They even destroy 

 honey-bees, assailing them on their return from the 

 fields laden with pollen. They throw themselves upon 

 their victims, tear the abdomen from the thorax and 

 and suck its contents. I have known persons who 

 have turned this insect-devouring propensity of hor- 

 nets to good purpose by hanging one of their nests in 

 a house much infested b}' the common house fly, from 



