CH. VI.] THE COMMON WASP. 101 



frail material is, however, so artfully arranged and 

 compacted, as effectually to exclude the rain. 



The mode in which this envelope is fabricated de- 

 serves attention: when the wasps wish to thicken it, 

 they build another layer upon the one already formed ; 

 each of these layers is about as thick as a sheet of 

 ordinary paper; several wasps are simultaneously 

 employed in extending or thickening the layer, and 

 this is done without confusion and with great cele- 

 rity. Having procured from abroad the material 

 required for their work, they moisten it, convert it 

 into a paste, and roll it into a ball ; this ball is then 

 taken to the part of the edifice which stands in need 

 of repairing; the insect, then lays it down, and 

 running backwards, extends the ball into a thread ; 

 this thread it then unites to the rest, by repassing 

 over it and consolidating it with great care. The 

 exterior figure of the vespiary is not unlike a large 

 Indian-rubber bottle ; the surface, however, instead 

 of being polished and smooth, seems as if composed 

 of oyster-shells tacked to one another. It is not 

 uniform in colour, owing to the variety of vegetable 

 fibre used in fabricating the substance of which it is 

 formed ; and when finished is about two inches thick. 

 There are generally two holes, each large enough 

 to admit only one wasp at a time; these are the 

 gates of the city, and, according to Reaumur, one 

 of them serves for ingress, the other for egress; 

 such is the order observed, that the uses of the re- 

 spective doors are rarely if ever changed. 



If a section of the nest be made, the first thing to 

 be observed is, that the envelope or wall is not solid, 

 but formed of layers of paper, between which there 

 is a considerable interval. By this means, not only 

 economy of materials is consulted, but the rain can- 

 not penetrate so easily as if the whole w T ere solid. 



The combs are parallel to each other, and to the 

 horizon ; they are composed of the paper-like ma- 

 terial already described ; the cells are hexagonal; 



