48 THE HISTORY OF BEES. 
feales of fifhes, which have a.power to extend or-contract 
themfelyes.as--there is. occafion, by the help .of proper 
mufcles nature has accommodated them with (tho’ Mr. 
Rufden could difcover only three partitions, with filver 
coloured ‘lines acrofs, p.5. which at once fhews how 
incurious he was in his remarks, and how remote from 
the truth in his report.) And within thefe plaits they 
fix and carry their wax; and not upon their legs 
or thighs, as the common people generally conclude, 
and moft authors I have met with have ignorantly, yet 
very confidently, afferted. 
. But of that more hereafter. This is the largeft ob- 
long, and in fome degree annular, taper, and piramidal. 
Within this laft divifion, or integral part, we find the 
bladder, or little bag, in which they carry both water and 
honey,» conveyed thither at the time of gathering, thro’ 
the narrow channels, which traverfe the head and breaft, 
and reconveyed to anfwer the feveral purpofes for which 
they are fo carefully and painfully provided. The bag 
of poifon hath it’s place here, near the root of the fting. 
: Here likewife is the gut, which is only one fingle en-— 
trail; and when left with the fting, is certain death to 
the infe&t. The extremity of this laft parts is the place 
of evacuation. a 
The laft part to be examined, and the moft curious 
of all, is the fpear, which certainly hath a polith exceed- 
ingly fine, and is without difpute a moft exquifite piece, 
and the point imperceptible. 
This 
