i;0 FAMILItE. {ApU. **. c. 2. a.) 



grave-olente liquore, syrupi violacei aut conservse 

 rosarum rubrarum fere colore, ciii innatat nympha 

 ab ovo quod ibi deponit Apis orta, quas usque ad 

 mutationem liquore illo vescitur, jamque mutatura 

 theca se includit. Nympbae ^tas unciae longae 

 sunt, plusquam 4- tarn latae, rugosa?, colore albo, 

 forcipibus nigricantibus, capitibus fere eruciformi- 

 bus. Infimse apes semper seniores sunt et majores ; 

 foramini seu exitui proximas minores et juniores, 

 sed omnes simul efFormantur, et calor irritat ad 

 exitum foramini proximas. Per integrum fere 

 annum in capsulis latent." 



Can we consider this curious history without 

 adoring that divine wisdom which teaches these 

 diminutive creatures to provide in so wonderful a 

 manner for the security and sustenance of their 

 young? Who is it that instructs them to bore a 

 fistular passage either under ground or in the trunk 

 of a tree for the reception of their nests ? What 

 rule do they take with them to the shrub from 

 which they borrow their materials to assist them 

 in meting out their work, by which they cut some 

 pieces into portions of an ellipse, others into ovals, 

 others into accurate circles, and to suit the dimen- 

 sions of the several pieces of each figure so exactly 

 to each other ? Where is the architect who can 

 carry impressed upon the tablet of his memory the 

 entire idea of the edifice he means to erect, and 

 without rule, square, plumb-line, or compass, can 

 cut out all his materials in thdr exact dimensions, 



without 



