22 
NATURAL HISTORY. [UPPER FLOOR. 
rough, irregularly formed paper nest of the true Wasps, 
which contains many horizontal layers of cells covered 
externally with irregular plates, as the under ground nest 
of the Vespa vulgaris , and the tree nest of the Vespa 
Britannica; the latter animal begins its nest by forming 
small bell-shaped chambers, in the cavity of which it forms 
a few cells ; but as the brood extends in numbers, it con¬ 
tinues increasing the size of the outer cover and the 
series of cells, until it resembles the common Wasp’s 
nest. These nests are formed of a substance resembling 
coarse whity brown paper. We have a similar nest, but 
of a much larger size and coarser texture, formed by an 
Indian species of Wasp ( Vespa affinis .) Then follow the 
nests of the Epiphone, which are of a regular form, 
and covered with a hard pasteboard-like substance, con¬ 
taining within them several horizontal series of cells. Some 
of these nests are smooth, and have only a single hole 
in the lower surface for the entrance of the insects. 
These nests are enlarged to adapt them to the increase 
of the brood, by the addition of a new chamber over 
which was before the base of the nest, when the last 
septum but one gradually becomes covered with ceils for 
the larvae. In some of these, as the Epiphone Nidulans , the 
lower base is convex, and the hole is in its centre, while in 
others, as the nest of the Tatuve of Cuvier, which have the 
base flat, it is placed on the margin ; another kind formed 
by Polistes Chartergus , has the outer surface covered with 
large blunt tubercles, and these have several large holes 
on the sides, which are protected from the weather by ob¬ 
lique dependent tubercular plates. The cells of the 
latter wasps are filled with honey, as is the case with the 
Lecheguana , which is said to make a bell-shaped nest 
with a single central hole. In the bell-shaped nests of 
this kind, the septa are supported by their being attached 
to the sides of the outer case, and there is only one hole 
in each septum to form the communication, while in the 
nest of the true wasp, they are supported by columns 
formed between the different layers. 
Case 7 contains Mammalia in spirits, as Bats, Shrew 
Mice, Opossums, and some very young specimens of larger 
animals. 
Case 8 contains a series of Annelides, including Sea 
