76 BEES' TONGUES, AND HOW THEY SUCK HONEY 



labial palpi, and at the base of the tongue we 

 shall see two little sheaths called the paraglossce ; 

 above these the softer parts lying in the trough 

 of the mentum ; from the base of the mentum, 

 connecting with the maxillce, there extends a 

 membrane which entirely invests the spaces 

 between the bases of these organs and extends 

 up to the mouth. A membrane also extends 

 between the stipites and lora, and closes the 

 cavity at the back of the head. The back of 

 the tongue in the act of sucking can be formed 

 into a tube through which, partly, probably by 

 capillary action, partly by the pumping action 

 caused by the dilating and contracting of cer- 

 tain parts of the mechanism, the liquid food 

 is drawn up into the sesophagus. This, I believe, 

 has been shown to be the principle on which 

 all bees, short- or long-tongued, suck up their 

 honey. The subject could be treated at much 

 greater length, and many other structures con- 

 nected with the mouth parts discussed, but 

 more minute details are unnecessary in an 

 elementary work such as this, and I have therefore 

 limited myself to a description of the broad 

 principles of the process. 



