Gleanings in Bee Culture 



Chilijr^ui u.r.77 



Sarcoid'"'-'' 



KiG. 4. — Schematic illustration of the tubular muscles. 



many very fine staves. A transverse sec- 

 tion through a large number of tube mus- 

 cles, see Fig. 5, shows the fine staves as a, 

 series of minute points. Between the single 

 fibers there are numerous tracheae from 

 which arise the finest air-channels, going 

 in serpentine lines along the fibers, thus fur- 

 nishing them the necessary oxygen and 

 eliminating the carbonic acid. 



These muscular fibers adhere firmly at 

 one end to some part of the rigid chitinous 

 harness, while the other end is grown to- 

 gether with some part of the body (antennae. 



tongue, wings, etc.), which is to be moved. 

 By an energetic contraction of the muscular 

 fascicle the extreme point is moved in a cer- 

 tain direction. The opposite movement is 

 ])erformed by relaxation of the fascicle with 

 simultaneous contraction of the antagonist. 

 To every muscle or group of muscles is a 

 corresponding one or more antagonists. 

 Thus the muscle (protrusor) which pushes 

 forth the sting possesses two antagonists 

 (retractors) , which have a tendency to with- 

 draw the sting. 

 The fascicle muscles possess a high degree 



Fig. 5.— Tubular muscle, transverse section. 



