458 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



umqae, and which the officers of the Museum might be char/ 

 of cutting open, particularly as its materials are so brittle. The 

 walls of the nest are remarkably hard and solid, but extremely 

 variable in thickness, some parts being nearly three times as 

 strong as others. The upper portions of the nest are the 

 thickest, the reason for which is evident on inspecting the 

 specimen. 



The nest was found in a Guianan forest, near the river 

 Berbice, suspended to a branch, which passed through a hole in 

 the solid wall of the nest. In the actual specimen, the branch 

 is wanting ; but in the illustration it has been restored, in order 

 to show the manner in which, the winged artificers suspended 

 their wonderful home. As is always the case with pensile nests, 

 the foundation is laid at the top, thus carrying out Dean Swift's 

 suggestion for a new patent in architecture. A large quantity 

 of clay is worked round the chosen branch, and made very 

 sti'ong, iu order to sustain the heavy weight which will be 

 suspended from it. This clay foundation is wonderfully hard, 

 though very brittle, this latter quality being probably due to 

 the long residence in a room which is always kept warm and 

 dry by artificial means. In the open air, and in the ever- 

 damp, though hot atmosphere of tropical America, the clay 

 would probably be much tougher, without losing the necessary 

 hardness. 



The combs are not flat, like those of an ordinary wasp-nest, 

 but are very much curved, so that when the nest is laid open 

 they almost follow the curve of the walls. This peculiar form of 

 the comb is shown in the illustration The cells are not very 

 large, scarcely equalling the worker cells of the common burrow- 

 ing wasp of England. 



One of the most remarkable points in the coustruction of this 

 nest is the entrance. In pensUe nests, the insect usually forms 

 the opening below, so that it may be sheltered from the wind 

 and rain. Moreover, it is usually of small dimensions, evidently 

 in order to prevent the inroads of parasitic insects and other 

 foes, and to give the sentinels a small gateway to defend. But 

 the particular Wasp which built this remarkable nest seems to 

 have set every rule at defiance, and to have shown an entire 

 contempt of foes and indifference to rain. 



As may be seen by reference to the illustration, the entrance 



