422 Miscellaneous. 
As the queen’s labours increased, she was less given to moving 
her charges from place to place, though they were not allowed to 
remain long quiescent. While nervously anxious about them, Mr. 
Potts thought that she showed little evidence of tenderness in her 
treatment, trampling on them with her feet or dragging them 
around under her heavy abdomen, as if they were really the putty 
they looked like. 
The moisture necessary for the cleansing and growth of the larvee 
was apparently supplied from the tongue of the caretaker, who 
examined them one after another, moistening the dry places and 
keeping the egg and larval skins flexible. ‘The queen was very 
careful of the eggs, standing nearly all the time with her head over 
the little heap, occasionally picking them up to move them a quarter 
of an inch or more to one side. She was thrown into a great 
excitement of solicitude when a fly, attracted by the crumbs, in- 
truded within her domicile. She sprang fiercely at the fly and 
raged around her narrow compartment, seizing a group of eggs as if 
to escape with them from a threatened danger, then replacing them 
as though recognizing the impossibility of getting away. Her de- 
meanour on this occasion indicated strong maternal solicitude. 
Mr. Potts made some attempt to follow the embryonic changes, 
and made a few drawings of the different phases. When first 
seen the egg is full of fluid, uniform in appearance throughout. 
When next observed segmentation had taken place and advanced 
to the morula stage, showing everywhere small granular cells of 
uniform size. Afterward a hy aline spot appears at one end of the 
egg, which there seems empty or filled with a homogeneous fluid ; ~ 
next to which are large cells, containing smaller ones of various 
sizes. Later both ends become transparent, the large cells 
bounding the small-celled body-cavity and forming the well-known 
gastrula condition. He was not able to trace the formation of 
the various internal or external organs. ‘The cyclosis of pulsation 
of the larval heart was counted in two instances at forty-five and 
fifty per minute. 
The manner of ovipositing (August 13) the nineteenth egg is 
thus described :—When first observed the queen stood up high upon 
all three pairs of legs, the abdomen thrown forward between them 
and the head bent back almost to meet it. The egg was then about 
half protruded. Considerable muscular action was visible throughout 
the abdomen, and when presently the egg was posited she straight- 
ened herself out with a visible air of relief, but forgot all about the 
ege, which was left lying under her for several minutes while she 
attended to other matters, until at last, accidentally touching it with 
one antenna, she picked it up and carried it to the family apart- 
ments, where, presently, the worker found it and placed it in the 
group of the older eggs. An evident intent at classifying the eggs 
and larvae was remarked, these (within the narrow limitations of 
the chosen space) having ‘been kept to a good degree separate. 
August 13, another worker was released from its cocoon. Mr. Potts 
did not see the act, but believed that the female assisted, as she was 
