STRUCTURE ADAPTED TO WANTS. 81 



ship if it were torn down the middle. In such a con- 

 dition it would indeed be of little use. Or again, if a 

 lady's fan were divided into two portions it would 

 take double the exertion, to get as much air from it, 

 as if it were whole and in one piece. 



Well, and so what do you think is done to help 

 the bee in its flight ? It is this. On the upper edge 

 of the smaller wing there is contrived a row of very 

 small hooks, and on the lower edge of the larger 

 wing, just opposite these hooks, there is a sort of bar 

 to which the hooks can fasten. 



And then what happens is this. Directly the bee 

 opens its wings to fly,' the little hooks on the one wing 

 catch hold of the little bar on the other, and in a 

 moment the two wings are fastened together, and 

 become almost like one large wing ; but as soon as 

 the bee stops the hooks are at once unfastened again, 

 and the wings fold one over another, quite con- 

 veniently, out of the way. 



Can anything be more strikingly beautiful than 

 such a device ? You will see the little hooks greatly 

 magnified in the illustration. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.— THE STl^fG. 



The next thing we will notice is the sting. Possibly 

 you have already felt what a sting is like, and I hope 

 you do not think it anything very dreadful. At all 

 events, it is a curious fact that we can get so ac- 



C 



