SMELL IN INSECTS. 51 



croglossa stellatarum, Stephens) fares the better 

 for this neglect of the bees, as, by means of its long' 

 sucker, it can g-et to the very bottom of the honey- 

 vessel, while it poises itself on the wing at the open- 

 ing of the flower. The younger Huber, however, 

 we find, expresslys tates that he has seen humble- 

 bees pierce the large tubes of the flowers of beans to 

 get at the honey, when, by trial, they found they could 

 not otherwise reach it*. M. Aubert du Petit Thouars, 

 also, a respectable French naturalist, observed hum- 

 ble-bees, as well as the violet carpenter-bee {Xylocopa 

 violacea), pierce the nectaries of the snapdragon, toad 

 flax (Linaria vulgaris), and marvel of Peru (Mira- 

 hilis JalajJa), as the bees of the Isle of France per- 

 forate the flower-tubes of the common Indian sliot 

 {Carina I?idica-f). Kirby has observed holes in the 

 nectaries of columbine (Aqidlegia vulgaris)^ which he 

 attributes to the same agency J. 



A similar experiment to that of Ruber's is said to 

 prove successiul upon fishes, particularly eels, by 

 enclosing a piece of meat or fish in a box perforated 

 with holes, and sinking it in deep water, where, in a 

 short time, the eels discover it, no doubt by the sense 

 of smelling, and crowd into the box §. In the case 

 of smelling at a distance, vultures and birds which feed 

 on carrion have long been famous; for, "where the 

 carcass is, there will the vultures be gathered together." 

 Dr. James Johnson, however, has stated several facts, 

 which render it more probable that this ought to be 

 attributed to acuteness of vision. He was led, he tells 

 us, to doubt the received opinion, while observing, some 

 years ago, a concourse of birds of prey, from every 

 point of the horizon, towards a corpse floating down 



* Linn, Trans, vol. vi. 

 "f Nouv. Bulletin des Sciences, i. 45. J Intr. ii. 523 

 § Monro, Anatomy of Fishes. 



f2 



