CO SEES. 



are also mandibulates, but the bees have a fui^tlier distinc- 

 tion, in that they lap up food with a proboscis, and after- 

 wards transfer that food to their mouth, as the elephant 

 does. This kind of insect is called " lambent," or lapping- 

 insects, from a Latin word " lambere," to lick or lap. It is 

 by means of their mandibles, or jaws, that they are enabled 

 to excavate the wax, smooth the mterior of the hive, and 

 perform similar labours ; and by means of their proboscides, 

 they moisten, knead, and spread the wax, as well as collect 

 honey. Althoug-h the parts of which the proboscis is com- 

 posed are so minute as to be scarcely visible to the unassisted 

 eye, yet they are quite as complex as those of the mighty 

 eie[)hant's trunk. 



The proboscis consists of no less than five distinct 

 branches ; namely, a central trunk, or tongue, and four 

 horny scales, tapering- to a point, convex outwards, and con- 

 cave towards the trunk. The two outer ones so sheath the 

 inner, as to appear but one single tube. By a joint in 

 the middle they bend or extend all at once, carrying* with 

 them the unarticulated or unjointed proboscis, which is cy- 

 lindrical, and about the size of a human hair, and appears 

 through a magnifier to be composed of successive rings. 

 It has probably as many short muscles as the tongue of a 

 fish, which are capable of moving it in all directions, and 

 towards its termination is furnished with hairs, or villi, 

 some of which at the point are very long, and seem to act 

 like capillary tubes. Mr. Wildman assures us that he has 

 seen the trunk growing bigger and less by turns, swelling 

 the instant the bee sucked, and this alternate lessening and 

 enlargement propagated from the extremity to the root 

 What a delicate apparatus of invisible muscles must per- 

 form this office ! The trunk is capable of being contracted 

 and folded up at pleasure, for if it were constantly extended, 

 it would be exposed to injury. When at rest, therefore, it 

 is doubled up by means of its joint, and lies in a very small 

 compass; the first portion being brought within the lip, 

 and the second part folded under the head and neck ; pro- 

 tection is given to it by a double sheath, consistmg of 

 four strong scales, the two inner scales sheathing the 

 tongue, and the two outer and larger ones encompassing* 

 the whole. When at work, the trunk is lengthened beyond 



