THE SWARM 



have a ven' nice sense of proportion, 

 and of the space required for the 

 movement of bodies. In the reg'ions 

 where the hideous death's-head sphinx, 

 the acherontia atropos, abounds, they 

 construct little pillars of v/ax at the en- 

 trance of the hive, so restricting the 

 dimension as to prevent the passage of the 

 nocturnal marauder's enormous abdomen. 



But enoug'h on this point : v,-ere I to 

 cite ever}- instance 1 should never have 

 done. To return to the queen, whose 

 position in the hive, and the part that 

 she plays therein, v,-e shall most tltly 

 describe by declaring- her to be the cap- 

 tive hean of the cit\-, and the centre 

 [96] 



