JIANUAL OF THE APIARY. 65 



which unite into the common oviduct (Fig. 11, c) through 

 which the eggs pass in deposition. In many insects there is 

 beside this oviduct, and connected with it, a sack (Fig. 11, 

 e) called the spermatheca, which receives the male fluid in 

 copulation, and which, by extruding its contents , must ever 

 after do the work of impregnation. 



This sack was discovered and its use suggested by 

 Malpighi as early as 1686, but its function was not fully 

 demonstrated till 1792, when the great anatomist, John 

 Hunter, showed that in copulation this was filled. The ovaries 

 are multitubular organs. In some insects there are but very 

 few tubes — two or three ; while in the queen bee there are 

 more than one hundred. In these tubes the ova or eggs 

 grow, as do the sperm cells in the vesicles of the testes. 

 The number of eggs is variable. Some insects, as the mud- 

 wasps, produce very few, while the queen white-ant extrudes 

 millions. The end of the oviduct, called the ovipositor, is 

 wonderful in its variations. Sometimes it consists of con- 

 centric rings, like a spy-glass which may be pushed out or 

 drawn in ; sometimes of a long tube armed with augers or 

 saws of wonderful finish, to prepare for eggs ; or again of a 

 tube which may also serve as a sting. 



Most authors state that insects copulate only once, or at 

 least that ' the female only meets the male but once. My 

 pupil, Clement S. Strang, who made a special study of the 

 structure and habits of bugs during the past season, noticed 

 that the squash-bugs mated many times. It would be inter- 

 esting to know whether these females possessed the sperma- 

 theca. In some cases, as we shall see in the sequal, the male 

 is killed by the copulatory act. I think this curious fatality 

 is limited to few species. 



To study viscera, which of course requires very careful dis- 

 section, we need more apparatus than has been yet described. 

 Here a good lens is indispensable. A small dissecting knife, 

 a delicate pair of forceps, and some small, sharp-pointed 

 dissecting scissors — those of the renowned Swammerdam were 

 so fine at the point that it required a lens to sharpen them 

 — ^which may also serve to clip the wings of queens — are 

 requisite to satisfactory work. Specimens put "in alcohol 

 will be improved, as the oil will be dissolved out and the 



