PHYSIOLOGY. 279 



the sting is a compound instrument. The ma- 

 chinery would have been comparatively useless 

 had it not been for the chemical process, by which 

 in the insect's body honey is converted into 

 poison ; and on the other hand, the poison would 

 have been ineffectual, without an instrument to 

 wound, and a syringe to inject it. 



In consequence of the barbed form of its sting 

 the bee can seldom disengage itself without leaving 

 behind it the whole apparatus, and even part of 

 its bowels ; so that her life is usually sacrificed to 

 her passion. 



" Illis ira modum supra est, laesseque venenum 

 Morsibus inspirant, et spicula caeca relinquunt, 

 Affixae venis, animasque in vulnera ponunt." VIRG. 



The sting of the queen-bee is longer and stouter 

 than that of the working-bee, and bends a little 

 under her belly. She is not eager to employ it ; 

 and from what has been said above, of the fatality 

 which usually attends its use, conjecture has been 

 busy as to the cause of her extreme caution in 

 this respect. DR. EVANS observes, that it cannot 

 arise from any selfish consideration, founded on 

 an instinctive knowledge of the danger she thereby 

 incurs ; since the common bees, who run the same 

 risk when they sting, are ready to attack upon 

 the slightest provocation. "Is it owing," says 

 he, " to a consciousness of the importance of her 



