Khe FL GF TO RAY ek UN 8 B Goes: 
whether the cavity through which I fuppofe 
the {perm pafles, are natural or produced by 
the force wherewith I preffed thefe parts out 
of the body, muft be {till more accurately in- 
veftigated, for thefe are not fufficiently clear 
to me. yi gett 
It is now time to defcribe the peculiar inver= 
fion*of thefe parts. The clofed and pointed 
appendages, Tab. XXI. fig. 1. 22, then begin 
firft to emerge and to be inverted by degrees, 
fig. 111. and rv. &&, until at length they are 
all entirely thrown out, Tab. XXII. fig. 1. 22. 
At the fame time the pyramidal particle pre- 
pares to iflue, Tab. XXI. fig. 11. and rv. 4; 
and turning itfelf more and more about it; 
Tab. XXII. fig. 1. becomes extuberant, until 
finally it is entirely extended, fig. 11.7. ‘Then 
the five ringed little part, Tab. XXI. fig. 1. B, 
is obferved, fig, 111. and 1v. 4, to appear by 
little and little, and to invert itfelf, Tab. XXII, 
fig. 1. b, until it is difplayed a little more, and 
then it is entirely inverted, exhibiting to the 
eye a very beautiful fight, fig. 11.4. In the 
laft place, Tab. XXI. fig. 1. g, the penis, as 
itis called, is by degrees propelled between the 
pyramidal part and that which has five divifi- 
ons, and is inflated with air, Tab. XXII. fig. 
int. g, 7, and at the fame time the quinque- 
partite little part is entirely dilated, and under 
what is called the penis, entirely towards the 
hairy part of the genitalsrr. In the mean 
time whilft thefe things are doing, the root of 
the penis ¢ and its inward horny particle /; is by 
degrees moved forward and thruft out of the 
body, fo that the orifice out of which the 
fperm is difcharged « may be very diftinaly 
feen. 
As almoft all thefe parts are thruft out by 
force of the air, the reafon is obvious why 
fome of them, when not diftended with air, 
appear wrinkled and contracted in the body, 
Tab. XXI. fig. 1. g bik &. It appears alfo 
for what reafon I call this little part ¢ the penis, 
and that is, becaufe it bears fome refemblance 
toa penis, Tab. XXII. fig. rrr. g ¢. Indeed, 
if it be perforated and ereéted by force of 
blood and {perm, one may more properly take 
it for a penis than the fine ringed little part, 
which is likewife impervious. The pofterior 
part of this penis next to the body w is v 
beautiful, refembling in brightnefs the foot of 
a cryftal drinking glafs with {mall ribs, only 
that a little whitenef§ intermixed obfcures in 
fome meafure the brightness. 
From the defcription and figures of the ge- 
nital organs thus exhibited, it is fufficiently evi- 
dent, that it is {carce poffible that all, and in- 
deed, hardly credible that any of thefe parts 
fhould be admitted into the body of the female: 
wherefore, I firmly believe that the female Bee 
is impregnated only by the ftrong effluvia of 
the male {perm, after the Bee has difcharged it: 
nor would I have this doétrine rejected by any 
perfon as abfurd though feemingly ftrange. For 
firft, though a penis or little part like it feems 
to be given to the male Bee, yet this is by no 
ted into the female’s body. 
224 
means fufficient for impregnation ; becaufe it is 
not only impervious, but by reafon of its fitu- 
ation and figure, it cannot, I think; be admit- 
Nay, though the 
penis fhould be admitted thither, yet it could 
not convey the {perm into the uterus, the lat- 
ter being difcharged through a quite different 
paflage. In Hornets there is a wonderful and 
diftintly vifible penis; on each fide of it are 
feen two horny hooks like claws, by the hélp 
of which the male Hornet fixes himfelf to the 
extreme ring where the female’s vulva is, and 
then advances its penis further into the uterus: 
In the Silkworms and in the horned Beetles the 
fame may be feen ftill plainer. I have found 
from experience that the male fperm of Bees 
exhales a rank and ftrong odour; fo that if 
there be feven or eight males together enclofed 
in the little box; this is more ftrongly infected 
with the effuvia of fperm than any one could 
believe; who hath never {melled thefe feminal 
vapours: And though the parts alfo containing 
this {perm have no aperture in the male, and 
the faid orifice was perhaps produced by me 
only, by the violent fqueezing of the pofterior 
part of the body, yet it does not therefore feem 
lefs probable that the fubtile particles of the 
{perm may eafily penetrate through the tender 
and inflated membranes of the genital organs, 
and by their effluvia only impregnate the fe- 
male. Does not experience teach, that even 
the white as well as the yoke infenfibly infpire 
through the membranes and hard fhell of the 
egg? Secondly, though the males were pro- 
vided with a penis fit for real coition, yet they 
never have an opportunity of copulating with 
the female, fince the is always furrounded with 
great numbers of the working Bees, nor is the 
ever any where left alone by them; fo that one 
cannot by any means imagine that the working 
Bees grant the female a place and accefs to 
exercife venery. But if any one objects, that 
the males probably engender with the female 
when they adhere about the cell, out of which - 
the female iffues ; this cannot be allowed, fince 
their genital organs are not obferved to be con-= 
ftituted in fuch a manner as to be accommo- 
dated to or for this bufinefs, However, if 
the aperture beforementioned, through which 
the {perm flows, be naturally in the genital 
parts, I readily accede to the opinion of one of 
my friends, who thinks that the males when 
they penetrate through the noify {warm of the 
other Bees, rub a little of the fperm upon the 
female’s body, and thus impregnate her: but 
this opinion is deftroyed if that orifice whence 
the femen iffued is not natural. Upon the © 
whole, it {éems to me more probable, that the 
female is impregnated only by the ftrong and 
very fubtile effluvia of the male feed. For if 
only eight male Bees are able to emit a very 
ftrong odour, what will four hundred of them 
together do ina hive? It is probable there is 
in general a greater number than this of males 
in one hive, which would not indeed be diffi- 
cult to know, if one would count either the 
1 | males 
