HEARING, TASTE, AND SMELLING. 107 



show that powerful odours are able to be recognised 

 by other portions of the body. Lehmann and 

 Cuvier came to the conclusion that the spiracles, con- 

 nected with the respiration of bees, are the means by 

 which the sense of smell is exercised. The idea was 

 based on the notion that odours can only be per- 

 ceived by the inhalation of air. This, of course, is 

 not a sufficient ground for the inference arrived at. 

 Kirby and Spence, again, inclined, as we have already 

 mentioned, to the belief that the organ of smell lay 

 in or near the mouth. This supposition was partly 

 founded on the close relation between taste and 

 smell. Ruber's experiments lent some confirmation 

 to this theory. He presented a camel's-hair brush 

 with a little oil of turpentine on its tip to every 

 part successively of the abdomen, trunk, and head, 

 without producing any discomfort to the bee. He 

 then tried the eyes and antennae, without any ap- 

 parent effect ; but, as soon as he directed it a little 

 above the insertion of the proboscis and close to the 

 mouth, immediate signs of annoyance showed them- 

 selves. This experiment, repeated with other''strongly- 

 smelling liquids, gave similar results ; but, when the 

 mouths of the insects experimented upon were 

 stopped with paste, the perception of odours appeared 

 no longer to exist. 



For the present, then, the matter remains in doubt ; 

 but we may suggest to our readers that observations 

 on this point, carefully and patiently conducted, may 

 lead to much useful information being obtained. 



It is impossible to pass from an examination and 

 description of the head-apparatus of the bee, without 

 being struck with the marvellous beauty, and equally 



