WAX 381 



moreover, the same formation. This arrangement 

 of several parts fitted endwise is found in the horns 

 or antenna, as well as in the legs, of all insects with- 

 out exception. It is precisely to this division into 

 separate pieces fitted endwise that the word insect 

 alludes, its meaning being cut in pieces. Is not the 

 body of an insect composed, in fact, of a series of 

 pieces placed end to end ? 



"Let us come back to the bee's stomach. In the 

 fold separating one ring from the next there is 

 found, underneath, in the middle of the stomach, the 

 wax-producing mechanism. There, little by little, 

 tin- waxy matter oozes out, just as with us sweat 

 oozes through the skin. This matter accumulates in 

 a thin layer which the insect detaches by rubbing the 

 stomach with its legs. There are eight of these wax- 

 producers. AVhen one is idle, another is working; 

 so that the bee always has some layer of wax at its 

 disposal." 



"And what does the bee do with its wax?" 



"It builds cells, that is to say storehouses, where 

 the honey is preserved, and little rooms where the 

 young bees in the form of larva? are raised. " 



"It builds its house, then," put in Emile, "with 

 the layers of wax taken from the folds of its stomach. 

 And there, you see, the bee shows a very original 

 and inventive mind. It is as if, in order to build a 

 house, we should rub our sides so as to get from them 

 the blocks of cut stone we needed." 



"The snail," concluded Uncle Paul, "has already 

 accustomed us to these original ideas of animals. It 

 sweats the stone for its shell." 



