42 
ON THE ANATOMY OF 
of the sting, Paley* ingeniously remarks : “ The 
action of the sting affords an example of the union 
of chemistry and mechanism ; of chemistry, in re- 
spect to the venom which in so small a quantity can 
produce such powerful effects : of mechanism, as 
the sting is not a simple, but a compound instru- 
ment. The machinery would have been compara- 
tively useless — telum imbelle — had it not been for 
the chemical process, by which, in the insect’s body, 
honey is converted into poison ; and on the other 
hand, the poison would have been ineffectual with- 
out an instrument to wound, and a syringe to inject 
the fluid.” 
Having noticed these particulars in the anatomi- 
cal structure of tho working-bee, as the general re- 
presentative of the species, we shall next point out 
in what it differs from the conformation of the queen, 
and the male or drone. The queen is frequently 
styled by the Continental Naturalists the Mother-Bee, 
and with great propriety ; as it seems now ascer- 
tained that her distinguishing qualities have a closer 
reference to the properties of a parent, than to the 
province of a sovereign. Her body differs from that of 
the worker, (PI. 1, fig. 2,) in being considerably larger, 
and of a deeper black in the upper parts, while the 
under surface and the limbs are of a rich tawny 
colour. Her proboscis is more slender ; her legs are 
longer than those of the worker, but without the 
hairy brushes at the joints ; and as she is exempted 
Natural Theology, page 234. 
