34 HISTORY ANB PHYSIOLOGY. 



Kirby, " in sublime fertur maritum infelicem pe- 

 tens, qui voluptatem brevem vita emat." Reaumur 

 thought sexual union necessary to impregnation, 

 and tried many experiments to ascertain the fact ; 

 such as confining a queen under a glass in com- 

 pany with drones : and these experiments were 

 repeated by Huber. Both these naturalists wit- 

 nessed the solicitations and advances of the queens 

 towards the drones, " nihilommus, coeuntia tempore 

 quovis conspicere non possent." Reaumur fancied 

 he saw it ; there is, however, very great reason to 

 believe that he was mistaken : the queens so exposed 

 all proved barren. Swammerdam asserted that 

 clipping the wings of queens rendered them sterile, 

 a fact which militates very much against his own 

 theory of impregnation being produced by a se- 

 minal aura, but strongly confirms the theory of 

 Huber ; as in all probability the mutilating expe- 

 riments of Swammerdam were made upon virgin 

 queens, which thereby lost the power of quitting 

 the hives. Huber found that clipping the wings 

 of impregnated queens produced no effect upon 

 them ; it neither diminished the respectful atten- 

 tions of the workers, nor interfered with their 

 laying of eggs. Why impregnation can only take 

 place in the open air and when the insects are on 

 the wing, at present remains a mystery. 



The young virgin queens, generally, set out in 

 quest of the males, the day after they are settled 



