72 CLASSIFICATION, PHYSIOLOGY, ETC. 



bers of the same family work together in the greatest 

 harmony. 



Nature has provided all animals, birds and insects, 

 with means to protect and guard themselves, so as to 

 insure their proper increase ; hence we find the honey 

 bee armed and equipped, in accordance with the 

 above laws. 



No less formidable weapon, or less courage than 

 that which they possess, would suffice to guard their 

 young and their treasures, affording as they do, temp- 

 tations to so many hungry creatures. 



Their means of defense consist of a sting to pierce, 

 and poison to inject into the wound by means of 

 the sting. As a means of protection, nature pro- 

 vides them with a habitation inaccessible to most of 

 their enemies. 



The sting is situated within and at the termination 

 of the abdomen; it is about an eighth of an inch 

 long, and is thrust out in the act of being used ; it is 

 composed of three parts, (which to the unassisted 

 eye appear as one) the piercer and two laminae. 

 The piercer is a little longer than the lamina, and is 

 furnished with a number of barbs, barely percepti- 

 ble under the microscope, which when once entered 

 into any yielding substance, not only hold the sting 

 so firmly that the bee leaves it sticking in the wound, 

 but cause it, assisted by the momentary nervous vital- 

 ity, to sink its entire length into the flesh. 



The poison is contained in a reservoir at the base 

 of the sting, and flows into the wound through the 



