The Lite of the Bee 
estimates at twenty-five millions, are 
preserved alive in a special gland known 
as the spermatheca, that is situate under 
the ovaries, at the entrance to the common 
oviduct. It is imagined that the narrow 
aperture of the smaller cells, and the 
manner in which the form of this aperture 
compels the queen to bend forward, ex- 
ercise a certain pressure upon the sper- 
matheca, in consequence of which the 
spermatozoa spring forth and fecundate 
the egg as it passes. In the large cells 
this pressure would not take place, and 
the spermatheca would therefore not open. 
Others, again, believe that the queen has 
perfect control over the muscles that open 
and close the spermatheca on the vagina,; 
and these muscles are certainly very 
numerous, complex, and powerful. For 
myself, I incline to the second of these 
hypotheses, though I do not for a mo- 
ment pretend to decide which is the more 
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