8 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS \0L. O3 



PLATE BETWEEN EYES AND BENEATH ANTENN.E AS SEAT OF 

 OLFACTORY ORGANS 



Paasch ( 1873) claims that no nerves coming- from the brain lead 

 to the trachea? and that the olfactory organ need not necessarily be 

 connected with the breathing- apparatus. He reasons that its location 

 should correspond with that found in higher animals. He found a 

 peculiar plate situated between the eyes and beneath the antennae and 

 extending to the base of the proboscis. This plate possesses a groove 

 whose edges are beset with stiff bristles, and many tracheal branches ; 

 it also has nerve connections. This he regards as the olfactory organ. 

 This plate does not exist in the honey bee. 



MOUTH CAVITY AS SEAT OF OLFACTORY ORGANS 

 After having cut off the antennce of some queen bees, Huber 

 (1807) was rather inclined to regard these appendages as the olfac- 

 tory organ, but later (1814) after many experiments he concluded 

 that the organ of smell resides in the mouth itself or in the parts 

 depending upon it. 



The following is a brief summary of his later work concerning the 

 olfactory sense : Not only do bees have an acute sense of smell, but 

 they possess the memory of sensations. For example, in the fall we 

 placed some honey in a window and the bees came to it in great 

 number. The honey was removed and the shutter of the window 

 was closed all winter. The following spring, when we opened the 

 shutter, bees returned to the same window, although there was then 

 no honey at this place. They remembered that it had been there 

 previously and an interval of several weeks had not effaced the ac- 

 quired impression. Bees not eating appear more responsive to odors, 

 while those eating honey are reluctant to move when odors are 

 brought near them. To ascertain how different odors affect bees he 

 used mineral acids and volatile alkalies presented on a pencil brush 

 to the opening of the mouth ; these did not affect them. Musk placed 

 in front of the hives did not irritate the bees much. Assafcetida 

 mixed with honey was put at the entrance of hives ; the bees ate the 

 honey and were not annoyed by this odor which is obnoxious to us. 

 Bees are greatly affected by the odors from camphor and the poison 

 ftom bee stings. 



To locate the region of the body in which the olfactory organ is 

 found, Huber brought a pencil brush, which had been dipped into 

 turpentine oil, near the abdomen, thorax and head. He saw a re- 

 sponse only when it was in the region of the head and decided that the 

 organ of smell is located only in the head. He next placed an ex- 



