ORGANS OF THE QUEEN. 210, 



tails. After a few seconds, they lapse into quietude, 

 to be, in turn, succeeded by others ; and, in a warm 

 room, this curious set of movements will be long con- 

 tinued, even though several hours have been occupied 

 in dissecting the abdomen whence the spermatheca 

 have been taken. 



Gently squeezing the spermatheca shows, since no 

 spermatozoa escape by the duct, that it is closed by 

 a valve, whose structure we must, by-and-by, study. 

 The pressure increased, the delicate bag at length 

 bursts, and a true microscopical marvel awaits us. 

 The spermatozoa escape in tufts, consisting of hundreds 

 of thousands, each of which is wriggling to be free ; 

 and quickly they are widely spread, curling and un- 

 curling with a peculiar snapping movement, and with 

 an energy that baffles description. Their powers in a 

 few minutes begin to wane ; then, one after the other, 

 they take a form closely resembling two 8's, one over 

 the other, surrounded by a rather larger O (a, C, Fig. 

 41). When all have sunk to rest, this singular pattern, 

 repeated with strange regularity, covers the field, 

 though sometimes the threads take a wider outline, 

 as the illustration makes clear. It remains to be seen 

 by what means these spermatozoa are packed in the 

 spermatheca after being received from the drone, and 

 how they are transferred to the egg as required, and 

 whether they are so transferred in all cases. But 

 before considering the structures involved, it is well 

 that we should direct our attention to the theory of 

 parthenogenesis, or production by a virgin, which facts, 

 observed half a century since, satisfactorily showed to 

 exist both in wasps and bees; but the argument 



