72 LETTERS ON ENTOMOLOGY. 
for respiration, and there can be no current of 
air. But how, you will say, is this done ? Just 
as you would do it yourself — by fanning them- 
selves. By means of the hooks at the edge they 
unite each pair of wings, and thus make a broader 
surface, which they vibrate so rapidly as to render 
the wings almost invisible. This is what produces 
the constant humming in a hive, and goes on in 
all seasons. 
Now let us consider what I think the most 
interesting part of their history — their language 
and tempers. The organ of the language of ants 
is their antennae. Huber has proved that it is 
the same with the bees, and I will tell you in what 
manner. He wished to know whether, when they 
had lost their queen (which is known to the whole 
hive in about an hour), they discovered it by 
their smell, their touch, or any unknown cause.. 
He first divided a hive by a grate, which kept the 
twoportionstwoor three lines asunder, so that they 
could not come at each other, though scent would 
pass. In the part where there was no queen, the 
bees Avere soon in great agitation ; and as they did 
not discover her where she was confined, they 
soon began to construct royal cells, which quieted 
them. He next separated them by a partition, 
through which they could pass their antenna?, 
