Miss Apis's Sting. 75 



gers; all daggers are more or less sharp, 

 though few as sharp as Miss Apis's. 



But the thing that distinguishes her 

 dagger, and makes it more terrible 

 than any other, is its barbs. Generally 

 daggers are smooth, and make a clean 

 cut, coming out as easily as they go 

 in. Not so Miss Apis's dagger. Al- 

 though it is so tiny that we cannot 

 see any barbs with the naked eye, 

 still they are there. Instead of being 

 smooth, it is fuller of barbs than a 

 fish-hook, as you can see in the pic- 

 ture, which is a very much enlarged ^jaJlPJ.^'^ 

 view of Miss Apis's sting. For ™gnified. 



L while an ordinary fish-hook has but 

 one or two barbs, this little stinger has 

 ten pairs ! It is not an easy matter to 

 duiary' ^^^ ^ fish-hook out of your finger if 

 hook, it gets in beyond the barbs, as those of 

 you who have ever had such an unpleasant 

 experience know very well. If one pair of 

 barbs hold so well, think how well ten pairs 



