444 FARMERS' REGISTER— GLEANINGS IN NATURAL HISTORY, &c. 



NEW COTTOK FACTORY IN RICHMOND. 



From the Richmond Whig 

 Mr. P. J. Chevallie ^ave notice, tlie day before 

 yesterday, that he would on that day open a sub- 

 scription for a thousand shares of stock of iSlOO 

 each, to erect a cotton nnanufactory on his property 

 near the immense flour mill he is now building at 

 the foot of the basin, in the centre of the city. The 

 first day about two thirds of the amount was sub- 

 scribed, and the balance was taken yesterday. 



THE SUGAR CROP. 



The New Orleans papers state that the early 

 frosts have done much damage to the sugar cane ; 

 in many places half the quantity of sugar which 

 had previously been calculated upon will not be 

 made. On one estate alone, it is estimated that 

 the frost had caused a loss of three hundred hogs- 

 heads. The injury to the cotton crops was repre- 

 sented to be inconsiderable. 



EFFECT OF A RAII^ ROAD, OR THE VALUE OF 

 PROPERTY. 



From the Petersburg Intelligencer. 



The lot ground on BoUingbrook street, upon 

 which the Columbian Hotel formerly stood, was 

 sold a few days ago at public auction, for tlie sum 

 of .^6,300. Two years ago it could not have com- 

 manded half that sum. Subsequent sales of real 

 estate have been made at equally advanced rates. 

 We mention these facts as evidences of the increas- 

 ing prosperity of our town. 



EXTRACTS FROM J ESSe's "GLEANINGS IN NAT- 

 URAL HISTORY." 



Bees — Language of Insects. 



My bees are a constant source of amusement to 



me; and the more I study them, the more I am led 



to admire their Avonderful instinct and sagacity. 



Few things, however, surprise me more than the 



fower which they possess of communicating what 

 can only call 'intelligence' to each other. This 

 I observe to be almost invariably the case before 

 they swarm. Some scouts may then be observed 

 to leave the hive, and for some time to hover round 

 a particular bush or branch of a tree, after which 

 they return to the hive. In a little while the new 

 swarm quits it, and settles on the branch which 

 had been previously fixed upon by the scouts. The 

 same power of communication may be observed in 

 the ant. I have often put a small green caterpillar 

 near an ants'-nest; you may see it immediately 

 seized by one of the ants, who, after several inetfect- 

 ual efforts to drag it to its nest, will quit it, go up 

 to another ant, and they will appear to hold a con- 

 versation together by means of their antennae, after 

 which they will return together to the caterpillar, 

 and, by their united efforts, drag it where they 

 wish to deposit it. 



I have also frequently observed two ants meeting 

 on their path across a gravel-walk, one going from, 

 and the other returning to the nest. They will 

 stop, touch each other's antennae, and appear to 

 hold a conversation ; and I could almost fancy that 

 one was communicating to the other the best place 

 for foraging, which Dr. Franklin thought they 

 have the power of doing, from the following cir- 

 cumstance. Upon discovering a number of ants 



regaling themselves with some treacle in one of 

 his cupboards, he put them to the rout, and then 

 suspended the pot of treacle by a string from the 

 ceiling. He imagined that he had put the whole 

 army to flight, but was surprised to see a single 

 ant quit the pot, climb up the string, cross the 

 ceiling, and regain its nest. In less than half an 

 hour several of its companions sallied forth, traver- 

 sed the ceiling, and reached the depository, which 

 they constantly revisited until the treacle was con- 

 sumed. 



Huber says, 'that Nature has given to ants a 

 ' language of communication by the contact of 

 ' their antennae ; and that, with these organs, they 

 ' are enabled to render mutual assistance in their 

 ' labors and in their dangers ; discover again their 

 ' route when they have lost it, and make each other 

 ' acquainted with their necessities. We see, then,' 

 he adds, ' that insects which live in society are in 

 ' possession of- a language; and in consequence of 

 ' enjoying a language in coamion withus, although 

 'of an inferior degree, have they not greater im- 

 ' portance in our eyes, and do they not embellish 

 ' the very spectacle of the universe ?' 



What I h^ve said respecting the power of com- 

 municating intelligence to each other, possessed by 

 bees and ants, applies also to wasps. If a single 

 wasp discovers a deposit of honey or other food, 

 he will return to his nest and impart the good 

 nev.'s to his companions, who will sally forth in 

 great numbers to partake of the fare which has 

 been discovered for them. It is, therefore, I tliink, 

 sufficiently clear that these insects have what Hu- 

 ber calls an 'cntennal language, — a language, we 

 can have no doubt, that is perfectly suited to 

 them, — adding, we know not how much, to their 

 happiness and enjoyments, and furnishing another 

 proof that there is a God, — all-mighty, all-wise, 

 and all-good, — who has ' ornamented the universe' 

 with so many objects of delightful contemplation, 

 that we may see him in all his works, and learn, 

 not only to fear him for his power, but to love him 

 for the care which he takes of us, and of all his cre- 

 at d beings. 



yinecdotes of Bees. 



A large brown slug made its way into a glass 

 hive, where the operations of the bees could be 

 distinctly seen. Having killed the slug, and find- 

 ing that they were unable to get it out of the hive, 

 thfjy covered it over with the thick resinous sub- 

 stance called propolis, and thus prevented its be- 

 coming a nuisance to the colony. Info the same 

 hive one of the common brown-shelled snails also 

 gained admittance. Instead of imbedding it in 

 propolis, the bees contented themselves with fixing 

 it to the bottom of the hive by plastering the edge 

 with that substance. 



I have now in my possession a regular fortifica- 

 tion made of propolis, which one of iriy stocks of 

 bees placed at the entrance of their hive, to enable 

 them the better to protect themselves from the 

 attacks of wasps. By meansof this fortification, a 

 few bees could effectually guard the entrance, by 

 lessening the space of admission, which I had ne- 

 glected to do for them. 



Bees show great ingenuity in obviating the in- 

 convenience they experience from the slipperiness 

 of glass, and certainly beyond what we can con- 

 ceive that mere instinct would enable them to do. I 

 am in the habit of putting small glass globes on the 

 top of my straw hives, for the purpose of having 



