92 



he has lain some time in this case, he throws off his 

 outer skin, with (he eyes, the horns, and all other 

 exterior parts, and becomes an oblong worm, in which 

 may be traced the form of the future fly. Through its 

 transparent skin may be seen new eyes, new horns, 

 and all other parts of the perfect animal. This worm 

 makes its way about half out of the case, and so 

 remains without farther life or motion, till the per- 

 fect fly makes its way out of a slit in the back. It 

 much resembles the dragon fly. The male then cou 

 pies with the female and dies. 



23. The sagacity of bees, in making their combs, 

 cannot be too much admired. The labour is dis- 

 tributed regularly among them. The same bees, 

 sometimes carry the wax in their jaws, and moisten it 

 with a liquor which they distil upon it, and 

 sometimes build the walls of their cells. But they 

 that form the cells, never polish them. Others make 

 the angles exact, and smooth the surface. The bits 

 of wax which are scraped off in doing this, others 

 pick up, that none may be lost. 



Those that polish, work longer than those that 

 build the walls, polishing not being so laborious a 

 work as building. They begin the comb at the top 

 of the hive, fastening it to the most solid part thereof. 

 Hence they continue it from top to bottom, and from 

 side to side. The cells are always six-sided, a figure 

 which, beside the advantage it has in common with the 

 square, of leaving no vacancies between the cells, 

 has this peculiar to itself, that it includes a greater 

 space within the same surface, than any other figure. 



It is a grand question, is there any part of a 

 plant without iron ? It is certain honey is not. And 

 it so delicate an extract from the finest part of 

 flowers, and that farther elaborated in the bowels of 

 the insect, if this be not without iron we may des- 

 pair of seeing any part so. 



The trunk of a working bee, is not formed in 

 the manner of a tube by which the fluid is to be suck. 



