FAMILIiE. {ApU. *-^. c. 2. «.) 167 



sider all circumstances, that the nest takes its form, 

 ^nd the leaves that compose it their bend, from 

 the tubular passage in which it is built ; it seems; 

 not possible that the interior part should be first 

 formed, for in this case the tube, composed of the 

 three first pieces of leaf, must be smaller than the 

 mould in \A'hich it is made, and then how could 

 these retain the bend the insect gave them, and 

 without any gluten adhere together before they 

 grew stiff ? As soon as the little animal quitted 

 them, they would lose the form she had given 

 them, and fly to the sides of the passage. Besides, 

 supposing this not to take place, how could she 

 get between the cells, and the sides of the passage, 

 to lay on the exterior coat of the cylinder ? It is 

 most natural to suppose that this is first formed, 

 taking its figure from the pipe in which it is built, 

 and the interior part last. 



I shall next insert an extract from a letter of 

 my venerable friend, the Rev. George Ashby, of 

 Barrow in Suffolk, well known as a learned an- 

 tiquarian, addressed to a gentleman who had sent 

 him a specimen of the nest of the JFilloiu Bee. 

 L " The curious specimen you obliged me with 

 yesterday is the workmanship of a small taper bee, 

 velvetty or hairy all over, black on the back, and 

 yellow or tawney beneath. Linneus calls it ceii- 

 timcularis, from the patch-w^ork case or coverlit 

 which it makes to lodge its eggs, and future grubs 

 or maggots in : it seems there are two sorts of 

 M i them ; 



