204. 
hive with a numerous off-fpring, and plenty of 
wax and honey ; and it is there obferved that 
the eggs gg, HA, are almoft all of a fize, and 
by degrees deereafe the higher they are fitu- 
ated. "The extreme ends of the oviduéts re- 
femble in the real prolific Bee ff, delicate, 
fine and fcarce vifible filaments, which are 
likewife crooked at their extremities, and are 
furnifhed with rudiments of oblong and almoft 
equal eggs, which at laft become fcarcely 
vilible. . 
Where the ovary is more protended or 
ftretched downwards in the lower region of the 
abdomen, it there terminates in two very con- 
fiderable ducts '4 6, xm, which refemble the 
two cornua or horns of the uterus in quadra- 
pedes. All the other oviduéts open into them, 
and bring their eggs thither, which is the cafe 
not only in the true female prolific Bee, but 
alfo in the others, though ina lefs regular 
manner. Thefe two ducts are dilated by de- 
grees, and become fo confiderably larger ; 
that they appear at length like a globular 
mafs pp; but when I opened them there, in 
the real prolific female, I found in each fide 
nine or tenegesgqgqq¢q, which had, defcended 
fo far, and are there probably covered with a 
ftronger coat or tunic, or are changed and 
prepared in fome other manner, fo that they 
may be afterwards emitted with fafety out of 
body; for the Bees do not lay their eggs as 
they naturally fall, like hens, but fet them up- 
right. Thefe eggs, Tab. XIX. fig. 111.99999, 
here likewife appear though faintly through 
thefe horns of the womb if it be proper to 
give them that name. For the uterus or ovary 
is in that part fibrous or mufcular, and there- 
fore is of a proper texture to pufh the eggs 
forward, and expel them out of the body ; 
nor do I doubt but the oviducts have alfo fome 
mufcular fibres. A little lower, near the ex- 
tremity of the body, thefe two horns of the 
uterus become narrower again, and at length 
they unite in one canal, which is likewife fi- 
brous, and has a kind of periftaltic motion /- 
The {pinal marrow pafies through the extre- 
mity of this aperture, which is left between 
thefe two ducts near where they are to unite 0, 
indeed juft above the place where this union 
happens; and there give fome nerves to the 
duéts, by the help of which they acquire a 
power of moving, and the infect is enabled 
to difcharge its eggs at its pleafure. This is 
the method wherein the {pinal marrow paffes 
through the duéts of the ovary in Humble 
Bees, and the fame is feen in Wafps. Many 
pulmonary tubes are alfo fixed into thofe two 
horns of the uterus rr rrr, and the whole 
ovary is in like manner furnifhed with many 
fuch pipes: it receives them on each fide 
from the dilated pulmonary tubes, which are 
the pneumatic bladders or lungs of the Bee. 
Texhibit fuch an oblong bladder d in one fide, 
where the ovary of the not fully perfected Bee 
is exhibited, that it may be feen by what 
means that bladder tranfmits its ramifications 
The) Bi @ O..K (ob: NW AO Ue Ry Bhior 
into the part of the ovary fituated on that fide, 
Thefe pulmonary tubes are diftributed through 
the whole furface of the ovary, but they are | 
feen chiefly about the eggs themfelves: this I 
have reprefented in avery {mall egg, as may 
be feen under the letter 4, in fig. v. The egg is 
there delineated magnified together with all 
its pulmonary tubes. In the extremity of the 
body is afterwards feen a fmall part exactly 
globular or fpherical, fig. 111. ¢ ¢, containing 
a flimy matter init, by means of which the 
ends of the eggs are faftened in their waxen 
cells. About this globe part two other ex- 
uberant parts are to be obferved, like crooked 
horns wz terminating in one foot-ftalk or tube. 
Thefe. are afterwards inferted in the uterus. 
This tube draws the matter contained in the 
{pherical particle out of it, Tab. XIX. fig. 111. 
ff, and with this matter afterwards moiftens 
the eggs that pafs through in order to be laid. 
Thofe two veffels wu have their extremities 
clofed up, and feem to me to fecrete the glu- 
tinous matter found in the {pheric bag, and to 
depofit it into the latter ; unlefs the glue be’ 
rather fecreted in the bag itfelf, which I rather 
believe. Thefe clofed veffels are likewife very 
remarkable in Humble Bees ; but the bag has’ 
a different figure in that infect. In the Hornet 
the bag is likewife {pherical, as it is here in the’ 
Bee. In Wafps it is of a pear-fhaped figure, 
fig. 1v. ¢; but the clofed veflels, or thofe which 
fecrete the flime, if it be fo, are not fo large, 
or remarkable there as in the Humble Bees 
or Bees. In the Silk-worm Butterfly thefe 
vefiels are very confpicuous, but there is no 
fuch bag of flimy matter there. The {pheric 
particle or the bag of flimy matter in the Bee, 
has two coats, the outermoft whereof is whi- 
tifh, mufcular, and in a wonderful and very 
beautiful manner interwoven with an infinite 
number of pulmonary tubes, fo that one would 
fay it was wrought with a needle. The out- 
ward coat may be eafily taken off from the 
under one; and when this is done, that little 
part appears more exactly globular, and be- 
comes of a faint purplifh colour, variegated 
with white fpots. If the inward coat, which 
is thicker and more glandulous than the for- 
mer, be opened with a fmall pair of {ciffors, 
a turbid or thick moifture flows out of it, 
which is like glue; it fticks to the fingers, and 
may like filk be very eafily {pun out into 
threads, which immediately grow dry in the 
circumambient atmofphere. By the help of 
this flimy matter the female Bee fixes its eggs 
in the cells: the Hornets and Wafps alfo glue 
their eggs fo firmly in their places, that they 
cannot be afterwards removed without injur- 
ing them; butthe eggs of the Humble Bees 
are not fo firmly fixed. I have obferved fome- 
thing fingular in thefe, and therefore I fhall 
delineate the method whereby this fixing of 
them happens, after I have finifhed the hiftory 
of the female parts. The Silk-worm Butterflies 
likewife have their peculiar clofed vefiels, 
which contain the flime that ferves to fix their 
CBS. 
