190 Mr. Hunter's Observations on Bees. 
and these muscles give motion in almost all directions, but more 
particularly outwards. It is wonderful how deep they will 
pierce solid bodies with the sting. I have examined the length 
they have pierced the palm of the hand, which is covered 
with a thick cuticle: it has often been about the -j 1 - of an 
inch. To perform this by mere force, two things are ne- 
cessary, power of muscles, and strength of the sting; neither 
of which they seem to possess in sufficient degree. I own I 
do not understand this operation. I am apt to conceive there 
is something in it distinct from simple force applied to one 
end of a body ; for if this was simply the case, the sting of the 
bee could not be made to pierce by any power applied to its 
base, as the least pressure bends it in any direction: it is pos- 
sible the serrated edges may assist, by cutting their way 
in, like a saw. 
The apparatus for the poison consists of two small ducts, 
which are the glands that secrete the poison : these two lie 
in the abdomen, among the air-cells, &c.: they both unite 
into one, which soon enters into, or forms, an oblong bag, 
like a bladder of urine ; at the opposite end of which passes 
out a duct, which runs towards the angle where the two 
stings meet ; and entering between the two stings, is con- 
tinued between them in a groove, which forms a canal by 
the union of the two stings to this point. There is an- 
other duct on the right of that described above, which is not 
so circumscribed, and contains a thicker matter, which, as far 
as I have been able to judge, enters along with the other : but 
it is the first that contains the poison, which is a thin, clear 
fluid. To ascertain which was the poison, I dipped points of 
needles into both, and pricked the back of the hand ; and those 
