514 



them little angels, angelitos, because they very 

 seldom sting. They are no doubt of the genus 

 apis, of the division melipones. Notwithstand- 

 ing the report of several travellers, it is not 

 true, that these bees, peculiar to the New World, 

 are destitute of all offensive weapons. Their 

 sting is indeed weaker, and they use it less fre- 

 quently * ; but a person, not yet entirely per- 

 suaded of the harmlessness of these angelitos, 

 can scarcely divest himself of a sensation of 

 fear. I confess, that, during my astronomical 

 observations, I was often on the point of letting 

 fall my instruments, when I felt my hands and 

 face covered with these hairy insects. Our 

 guides assured us, that these bees attempt to 

 defend themselves only when they are irritated 

 by being seized by their legs. I was not tempt- 

 ed to try the experiment on myself. 



The dip of the needle at the Siila was one 

 centesimal degree less than in the town of Ca- 

 raccas. In collecting the observations which 

 I made during calm weather, and in very fa- 

 vourable circumstances, on the mountains as 

 well as along the coast, it would at first seem, 

 that we discover, in that part of the Globe, a 

 certain influence of the heights on the dip of 

 the needle, and the intensity of magnetical 



* See a paper by Mr. Latreille, inserted in my Observations 

 de Zoologic, torn, i, p. 263 and 269. 



