450 [Proc. B. N. F. C, 



of the wings, legs, tongues, and eyes, he concluded his discussion 

 of their structure by describing their stings. The stings of 

 bees, he remarked, are very interesting objects under the micro- 

 scope. The sting is composed of a pair of lancets in a horny 

 sheath or scabbard, smooth and sharp-pointed, is under the 

 control of powerful muscles, by which the bee can plunge it 

 into the object of attack ; and when the scabbard has been 

 thrust in, the lancets, which are connected with the poison 

 glands, are projected through the open point of the scabbard, 

 and inject the poison into the wound. The lancets are barbed ; 

 they are slender things ; and, if they are projected into a tough 

 substance like the thickened skin of the palm of the hand, very 

 frequently they are unable to extract them again, and so they 

 are left in the wound. The bee, in such a case, suffers by the 

 tearing of the delicate viscera, with which the lancets are con- 

 nected, and is liable to die from such injury. Of course, it is a 

 great mistake to suppose that the sting is always left in the 

 wound. The scabbard usually makes a. sufficient opening in 

 tender skin to leave the lancets no danger from being sufficiently 

 projected for their purpose, the scabbard keeping the wound 

 open till the lancets are withdrawn. It is only when the sub- 

 stance beyond the point of the scabbard is tough enough to 

 hold the barbs of the lancets that the bee gets damaged by their 

 loss. There are two chitinous brackets on the upper part of 

 the lancets, which, being jammed into the neck of the scabbard, 

 allow the lancets only a certain length of projection through 

 the point of it, so that if the barbs hold in the skin then either 

 the lancets must be violently pulled through the scabbard, 

 crushing the brackets and tearing the viscera, or else the mus- 

 cles which work the scabbard must give way, and the whole 

 apparatus be left in the wound when the bee takes flight, for 

 the future hors de combat. Speaking of stings, Mr. Andrew 

 further remarked that if a bee or wasp alights on the hand or 

 face for a moment, it will probably be as harmless as a fly if the 

 person be quite quiet till it takes flight ; but if he makes some 

 sudden, jerky movement to be rid of it, the little creature, 



