128 THE STORY-BOOK OF SCIENCE 



consoling him. Compresses of cold water finally 

 Boothed his smarting pains. 



"The bee is venomous, " repeated Uncle Paul; 

 "Emile could tell you that." 

 "The wasp too, then?" asked Jules. "One stung 

 me once when I tried to drive it 

 from a bunch of grapes. I did not 

 say anything, but all the same I 

 was not very comfortable. To 

 think that such a tiny thing can 

 hurt one so! It seemed as if my 

 Solitary wasp and nest hands were on fire. ' ' 



"Certainly, the wasp is venomous; more so than 

 the bee, in the sense that its sting causes greater 

 pain. Bumble-bees are, too, as well as hornets, 

 those large reddish wasps, an inch long, which some- 

 times come and gnaw the pears in the orchard. You 

 must beware especially of hornets, my little friends. 

 One sting from them, one only, would give you hours 

 of horrible pain. 



"All these insects have, 

 for their defense, a poisoned 

 weapon constructed in the 

 same way. It is called the 

 sting. It is a small, hard, 

 and very pointed blade, a 

 kind of dagger finer than the 

 finest needle. The sting is 



placed at the end of the creature's stomach. When 

 in repose, it is not seen ; it is hidden in a scabbard 

 that goes into its stomach. To defend itself, the 

 insect draws it out of its sheath and plunges the 



