Oct. 5, 1883.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE <► 



217 



the bee can do. But the wasp can bring his jaws to aid ; 

 and a little while ago, when Redhot Pokers {Tritomauvaria) 

 were in bloom, numbers of wasps might be seen biting 

 holes round the bottom of the tubular flowers, and thus 

 enabling their short tongues to get at the coveted nectar. 



It may be incidentally mentioned that the Redhot Poker 

 was introduced from Africa no great while ago, and English 

 wasps must have contemplated it as a strange plant, which 

 neither they nor their grandfathers had ever fed upon. The 

 first wasp who tapped its corolla must have been an adven- 

 turous experimenter — in his way a reasoner from analogy, 

 and a benefactor to his race. 



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Fig. 1. — Mouth-organs of Honey .Bee. A. Tongue extended. 

 BB. Labial palpi. CC. Maxilltc. DD. Maudibles, depressed to 

 show other organs more plainly. When the bee sucks the tongne, 

 &c., are raised and protruded between them. (Dra-i\-n from the 

 objects uncompressed by Mrs. Slack.) x 20. 



We shall proceed in another paper to a minute examina- 

 tion of the bee's mouth organs, but will now further consider 

 what more the e.xamination with a pocket lens suggests. 



Having regard to the si/c of the two insects, and to the 

 small quantity of food required for a creature that com- 

 pletes its growth at the time of its emergence from its pupa 

 state, the liee's mouth organs suggest that it might gatlu^r 

 much more food than its own needs require, whilii the 

 wasp's mouth organs suggest that a more varied food and a 

 smaller quantity may suit its habits. This is the case. The 

 bco has not only to feed a host of young during the warm 

 months, but to lay up a store of food for a largo population 

 to live upon atwaking times during the winter. The wasp has 

 also to feed its young, but when the cold weather comes the 

 bulk of the colony dies, leaving only some females to lay eggs 

 and found a fresh city of paper houses when spring returns. 

 The l)ee, making its comb and cells of wax, needs to eat the 

 right food for this substance to be secreted. The wasp, to 



create its paper, has to bite wood and other substances' 

 which its big strong jaws make easy work, but which the 

 bee's jaws are not fit for. A bee could make no impres- 

 sion upon a firm apple, but a wasp soon gnaws a great hole- 

 in one, chiefly to suck its juices, as its small waist would 

 forbid the passage of solid particles, unless of very minute 

 dimensions. 



Fig. 2. 



-Wasp's tongue and labial palpi. (Copied 

 from Westwood.) x 10. 



The mandibles, or jaws, of the bee come into special use 

 in forming the comb. The wax is secreted in thin plates 

 between the segments of the abdomen. This substance is 

 kneaded by the mandibles, and added layer by layer to 

 form the comb. In its early stage this consists of shape- 

 less blocks, which the mandibles mould into shape. The 

 mandibles serve a great number of other purposes. They 

 are the insects hands as well as cutting tools. The subject 

 will be continued in the next paper. 





Fig. 3. — Tip of Bee's tongue, underside uppermost. (Drawn fronu 

 preparation in Canada balsam by Mrs. Slack.) x COO. 



€tittortaI (Sosisfip. 



A GREAT deal has been said about newspaper science, 

 which is often spoken of as if it were uniformly valueless. 

 That this view cannot bo altogether correct is shown by 

 the circumstance that many of our most distinguished men 

 of science have written newspaper articles on their own 

 special subjects, and that such articles have not unfre- 

 quently been embodied subsequently in scientific works of 

 high standing. I am myself somewhat unwilling to see 

 newspaper science systematically abused and ridiculed. For 

 I have written many hundreds of newspaper articles — 

 not all, by the way, on subjects which belong to my own 

 special lines of research. I have always strictly limiteil 



