384 SCIENTIFIC ILLUSTRATIONS [Vic 



Verbiage. 



The fecundity of the queen bee is amazing ; yet it is sur- 

 passed by that of the termite ant. She contains about three 

 inches by half an inch of eggs, and lays them at the rate of 

 sixty a minute. Just as these small creatures are prolific of eggs, 

 so are small minds prolific of words. Eagles' eggs are scarce. 

 So are thinkers' words. Termite eggs and fools' verbiage are 

 plentiful enough. B. w. 



The Modus Operand! of Vice. 



The honey-moth and the honeycomb-moth attack bees, and 

 more cunningly than the sphinx-moth, as well as more success- 

 fully. They are so small that they can get into the hive some- 

 times, notwithstanding the vigilance of the guards, and deposit 

 their eggs in the combs. These little moths, called galleria 

 moths, are small and of a light-brown colour, and can run 

 with great rapidity. When they are at rest, or when running, 

 their wide wings are folded over the body into a very small 

 space indeed, and offer no impediment to the movements of 

 their feet. It is, indeed, necessary that some provision of this 

 nature should be made, for when one of them has succeeded in 

 slipping past the sentinels, there is a grand commotion in the 

 hive, each bee chasing the galleria moth and endeavouring to 

 secure it with its teeth, when its fate would be instant death 

 at the jaws of the infuriated multitude. But generally the 

 active little creature, having once obtained an entrance, fulfils 

 the object for which it came there ; for after running and 

 doubling and twisting about among the combs, it evades its 

 enemies and secretes itself in some crevice, where it deposits 

 its eggs in safety. The object of its life is now accomplished, 

 and it cares little what becomes of itself afterwards. As for 

 the hive, the mischief is done, for the eggs are sure to be hatched, 

 and successive colonies of these destructive little creatures are 

 soon found, some of whom rush out of the door to carry destruc- 

 tion into other hives, while others, finding themselves in the 

 midst of plenty, lay their eggs in the same hive where they 

 themselves were born. After all this labour and perseverance, 



