wD) TREATISE ON THE 
sed to each other, by means of which the 
Bee fix themselves to the roof of the hive, 
and to one another, When suspended as they 
often are, in the form of curtains, inverted 
cones, festoons, ladders, &c. From the mid- 
dle of these hooks proceeds a little thin ap- 
pendix, which, when not in use, lies folded 
double through its whole breadth ; when in 
action, it enables the insect to sustain its 
body in opposition to the force of gravity, 
and thereby adhere to and walk freely and 
securely upon glass and other slippery sub- 
stances, with its feet upwards. 
The abdomen is attached to the posterior 
part of the thorax, by a slender ligament, 
like that which unites the thorax and the 
head, and consists of six scaly rings of un- 
equal breadth. It contains two stomachs, 
the small intestines, the venom-bag, and the 
sting. An opening, placed at the root of the 
proboscis, is the mouth or gullet which tra- 
verses the trunk, and leads to the anterior 
stomach. ‘This last named vessel is but a 
dilation of the gullet, and, in fact, forms the 
