266 
terminates in three points ; but the form of the tail varies in every 
one of the three specimens which I possess. 
In one, the tail terminates in a bifurcation ; and, by careful inspec- 
tion with a lens, a fold is perceptible in the last articulating ring of 
the abdomen, which, it is evident, would have been obliterated by the 
approximation of the bifurcating points. That the animal, therefore, 
possessed the power of opening and of shutting these, appears to be 
highly probable ; and the appearances yielded by another specimen 
authorizes the opinion, that these, on closing, formed a sheath for the 
sting of the animal ; and, on being opened, left it in a state fit to 
inflict a wound. An apparently cylindrical body is seen standing out 
between the bifurcation, and may be even traced some little way 
within the abdomen. In a third specimen, which, from its having 
lost its legs, has very much the appearance of a pupa, the caudal ter- 
mination is in a single point, giving to me the idea of the bifurcating 
points being united, and inclosing the sting. 
Plate XVII. Fig. 2, a, represents the animal with the bifurcating 
sheath : b, shows the sting, which has passed out of the sheath : and 
c, shows the termination in a single point ; which I suppose to be 
formed by the closing of the bifurcated sheath over the sting. 
The most accurate examination which I have been able to make 
does not enable me to discover any traces of wings. The legs, which 
I am of opinion are eight in number, are attached to the breast. If 
these insects have not been despoiled of their wings, and if my obser- 
vations have been correct, they cannot any longer be considered as 
belonging to the genus Vespa : but, it being admitted that they were 
apterous insects, I yet must acknowledge my inability to dispose of 
them tinder any known genus. 
Lhwydd, in a postscript to a letter to Dr. Richardson, thus speaks 
of the remains of insects, which he had perceived in coal-slate. — 
“ Scripsi olim suspicari me Araneorum quorundam icones, una cum 
lithophytis , in schisto carbonaria observasse : hoc jam ulteriore expe- 
