INSECTS. 213 



posit their eggs in the hole. The descriptions whiuh natural- 

 ists give of this organ are such as the following : It is a sharp- 

 pointed instrument, which, in its niactivc state, lies concealed 

 in the extremity of the abdomen, and which the animal 

 draws out at pleasure, for the purpose of making a puncture 

 in the leaves, stem, or bark of the particular plant which ia 

 suited to the nourishment of its young. In a sheath, which 

 divides and opens whenever the organ is used, there is in- 

 closed a compact, solid, dentated stem, along which runs a 

 guttej' or gi'oovc, by which groove, after the penetration is 

 effected, the e^^, assisted in some cases by a peristaltic mo- 

 tion, passes to its destined lodgement. In the OBstrus or 

 gad-fly, the wimble draivs out like the pieces of a spy-glass : 

 the last piece is armed with three hooks, and is able to bore 

 through the hide of an ox. Can any thing more be neces- 

 sary to display the mechanism, than to relate the fact ? 



III. The stings of insects, though for a different purpose, 

 are, in their structure, not unlike the piercer. The sharp- 

 ness to which the point in all of them is wrought ; the temper 

 and firmness of the substance of which it is composed ; the 

 strength of the muscles by which it is darted out, compared 

 with the smallness and weakness of the insect, and with the 

 soft and friable texture of the rest of the body, are properties 

 of the sting to be noticed, and not a little to be admired. 

 The sting of a hee will pierce through a goat-skin glove. It 

 penetrates the human flesh more readily than the finest point 

 of a needle. The action of the sting affords an example of 

 the union of chemistry and mechanism, such as, if it be not 

 a proof of contrivance, nothing is. First, as to the chemis- 

 try, how highly concentrated m.ust be the venom, which, in 

 so small a quantity, can produce such powerful effects I And 

 ni the bee we may observe that this venom is made from 

 honey, the only food of the insect, but the last material from 

 which I should have expected that an exalted poison could, 

 by any process or digestion whatsoever, have been prepared. 

 In the next place, with respect to the mechanism, the stinj^ 



