22 PHYSIOLOGY OF THE HONEY-BEE. 
%3. ‘But another contrivance, equally beautiful, rernains 
to be noticed. The pulvillus is carried folded in the middle (as 
at C, fig. 12), but opens out when applied to a surface, for it has 
at its upper part an elastic.and curved rod (c) which straightens 
as the pulvillus is pressed down, C and D, fig. 12, making this 
clear. The flattened-out pulvillus thus holds strongly while 
pulled, by the weight of the bee, along the surface, to which it 
adheres, but comes up at once if lifted and rolled off from its op- 
posite sides, just as we should peel a wet postage stamp from its 
envelope. ‘The bee, then, is held securely till it attempts to lift 
the leg, when it is freed at once; and, by this exquisite yet 
simple plan, it can fix and release each foot at least twenty 
times per second.’’—(Cheshire.) 
: Er ar, 
Fig. 12. 
BEE’S FOOT IN CLIMBING, SHOWING ACTION OF PULVILLUS. 
(Maguified 30 times. From Cheshire.) 
A, position of the foot in climbing slippery surface or glass; pv, pul- 
villus; fh, feeling hairs; an, anguiculus, or claw; ¢, tarsal joint. 
B, position of the foot in climbing rough surface. 
C, section of pulvillus just touching flat surface; cr, curved rod. 
D, pulvillus applied to surface. 
54. The legs of bees, like all other parts of their body, 
are covered with hairs of varied shapes and sizes, the de- 
scription of which is beyond the limits of this work. We 
will confine ourselves to a short explanation of the uses, 
which have a direct bearing upon the work of t\e bee. 
The hairs of the front, or first, pair of legs (C, Plate IV) 
are especially useful in cleaning the eyes and the tongue, 
and gathering the pollen grains. 
55. On the metatarsus, the lower of the two largest joints 
of these front legs, is a rounded notch (E, a, Plate IV), 
closed when the leg is folded, by a sort of spur or velum, 
