23 



withdrawn when once plunged to the hilt, so that the insect in trying to 

 escape tears out its viscera and dies. It seems, lie said, a most extraordinary 

 thing that Nature, in providing weapons of defence to the insect, should not 

 allow them to be used without causing the destruction of the owner ; but when 

 we refer to tlie other members of the order, and find a saw-fly, which has a 

 serrated anal instrument for ovi-position, and a gall fly, which has a piercing 

 instrument which also ejects an irritating fluid, the mystery is solved, and in 

 a combination of these two the morphological significance of the structure of 

 the sting of the hive-bee is apparent, and, in the words of Darwin, if we look 

 at the sting of the bee as having existed in a remote progenitor as a boring 

 serrated instrument, which has since been modified but not yet perfected for 

 its present purpose, with the poison originally adapted for such an object as 

 the production of galls and since intensified, we can understand how it is that 

 its use should so often cause the insect's death. Passing on to the third 

 heading of this paper, the lecturer described the life history of the insect 

 from birth to death, explained the method of makini; honeycomb, and related 

 the well-known incident of Reaumur, Koenig and McClaurin in relation to 

 the angles at the base of the cells, showed how the hexagonal form had come 

 about, described the process of swarming, and enumerated the various 

 enemies against which the bee has to contend in the struggle for existence. 

 A brief summary of the whole subject concluded the paper, and a discussion 

 ensued, in which Mr. Boulting, Mr. F. L. Watkins, and others took 

 part. A hearty vote of thanks was proposed to Mr. Ellis, and carried with 

 acclamation. 



JULY 12th, 1883.— ordinary MEETING. 



MR. WM. BOTJLTING, L.R.C.P., 



President, in the Chair. 



The Minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. 



The donations to the Museum and Library were announced, and the donors 

 thanked. 



Mr. E. B. Stamp was elected a member of the Club. 



One gentleman was proposed for membership. 



The President remarked that in answer to inquiries of the committee, the 

 Board of Works had promised to provide a specimen of everj' plant growing 

 on the Heath for the Museum. This will be a great boon to the Club, as 

 manv plants had become extinct, owing to the recent drainage. 



Apaper on " THE SKIN AND ITS MODIFICATIONS," by DR. PERCY 

 TAYLOR, was communicated by Mr. F. L. Watkins. 



At the conclusion of the paper a discussion ensued, in which Mr. R. Ellis, 

 Mr. Jackson, and the President took part. A vote of thanks to Dr. Taylor 

 was carried unanimously. The President supplemented the paper by a few 

 remarks on " Cells and Cellular Structure." A number of objects were ex- 

 hibited under microscopes by Messrs. C. A. W^atkins, J. E. Stuart, and 

 H. Jackson. 



OCTOBER 10th. 1883.— ORDINARY MEETING. 



MR. WM. BOTJLTING, L.R.C.P., 



President, iti the Chair. 



The Minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. The 

 donations to the Museum were announced and the donors thanked. 



