32 ON THE ANATOMY OF 



Tearing open the anthers of the plant on which it 

 has alighted, and rolling its little body in the bottom 

 of the corolla, the insect rapidly brushes off the farina, 

 moistens it with its mouth, and passes it from one 

 pair of legs to another, till it is safely lodged in the 

 form of a kidney-shaped pellet in a spoon-like recep- 

 tacle in its thigh to be afterwards noticed. These 

 hairs deserve to be particularly remarked on account 

 of their peculiar formation, being feather -shaped, or 

 rather consisting each of a stem with branches dis- 

 posed around it, and, therefore, besides their more 

 effectually retaining the animal heat, peculiarly adapted 

 for their office of sweeping off the farina. 



The HEAD, which is of a triangular shape and much 

 flattened, is furnished with a pair of large eyes, (Wood- 

 cut, p. 3 1 , Fig. 1 , a a, ) of what is called by naturalists the 

 composite construction, and consisting of a vast assem- 

 blage of small hexagonal surfaces, dispooed with 

 exquisite regularity, each constituting in itself a per- 

 fect eye ; they are thickly studded with hairs, which 

 preserve them from dust, &c. In addition to these 

 means of vision, the bee is provided with three small 

 stemmata, or coronetted eyes, situated in the very 

 crown of the head, and arranged in the form of a 

 triangle. These must add considerably to the capa- 

 city of vision in an insect whose most important 

 operations are carried on in deep obscurity. As to 

 the special or peculiar use these ocelli may serve, 

 Reaumur and Blumeribach were of opinion, that, 

 while the large compound organs are used for viewing 

 distant objects, the simple ones are employed on 



