Microscopical Essays. 



283 



and apparently fimilar to that vifcous humour which fnails fpread 

 in their paffage from one place to another, and it is probable that* 

 they are formed of the fame materials j this fubftance, though 

 of fo delicate a nature, gives them fuch a degree of confiftency, 

 that they may be handled without altering their form. An egg is 

 depofited at the bottom of each cell, where, after it is hatched, 

 the worm finds itfelf in the midil of a plentiful flock of provifion : 

 for in each cell there is placed a quantity of pafte, or a kind of 

 wax, which is to ferve as food for the worm, and fupport the 

 wall of the cell. The worm is alfo inftrucled fo to conduct itfelf, 

 and eat this food, as to leave fufficient props for fupporting the 

 walls of it's apartment. 



Many fpecies of thefe bees content themfelves with penetrating 

 into the earth, fcooping out hollow cavities therein, polifhing 

 the walls, then depofiting an egg and a fufficient quantity of 

 pro virions. 



There is another fpecies, that forms it's neft under ground 

 with remarkable induftry ; this bee generally makes a perpendi- 

 cular hole in the earth about three inches deep, and cylindrical 

 till it comes within about three-fourths of an inch of the bottom, 

 when it begins to open it wider ; as foon as the bee has given it 

 the fuitable proportions, it proceeds to line with tapeftry not only 

 the whol infide of it's dwelling, but round the entrance : the 

 fubftance with which it is lined is of a crimfon colour, and looks 

 like fattin. From this circumftance Mr. de Reaumur * terms it the 

 tapeftry bee. This tapeftry, or lining, is formed of fragments of 



M m 2 the 



* Reaumur Memoires pour PHiftoire des Infe&es, edit, 8vo. torn. 6, partie I, p. 170, 



