TASTE IN INSECTS. 57 



from several reservoirs (glands) in their neighbour- 

 hood^ whence pipes are laid and run to the mouth. 

 The whole surface, indeed, of the mouth and tongue, 

 as well as the other internal parts of our body, give 

 out more or less moisture 5 but besides this, the mouth, 

 as we have just mentioned, has a number of fountains 

 expressly for its own use. The largest of these foun- 

 tains lies as far off as the ear on each side, and is 

 formed of a great number of round, soft bodies, about 

 the size of garden-peas, from each of which a pipe 

 goes out, and all of these uniting together form a 

 common channel on each side. This runs across the 

 cheek nearly in a line with the lap of the ear and the 

 corner of the mouth, and enters the mouth, opposite 

 to the second or third of the double teeth [molares), 

 by a hole, into which a hog's bristle can be introduced. 

 There are, besides, several other pairs of fountains, 

 in different parts adjacent, for a similar purpose. 



We have been thus particular in our description, in 

 order to illustrate an analogous structure in insects, 

 for they also seem to be furnished with salivary foun- 

 tains for moistening their organs of taste. One of 

 the circumstances that first awakened our curiosity 

 with regard to insects, was the manner in which a 

 fly contrives to suck up through its narrow sucker 

 (liaustellum) a bit of dry lump sugar ; for the small 

 crystals are not only unfitted to pass, from their an- 

 gularity, but adhere too firmly together to be se- 

 parated by any force the insect can exert. Eager to 

 solve the difficulty, for there could be no doubt of the 

 fly's sucking the dry sugar, we watched its proceed- 

 ings with no little attention ; but it was not till we fell 

 upon the device of placing some sugar on the out- 

 side of a window, while we looked through a mag- 

 nifying glass on the inside, that we had the satisfaction 

 of repeatedly witnessing a fly let fall a drop of fluid 



VOL. XII. 4 



