in a tough and hermetically sealed case: this period of their existence is known as the pupa or chrysalis state.

This metamorphosis, so well exemplified in the common Butterfly, is perhaps the most remarkable phenomenon in animated nature; and it has been compared by the poetic mind of Rogers to the final transition that takes place in ourselves when our soul wings its upward flight to heaven. He has expressed himself in language so sublime, that we cannot refrain from introducing his verses, which will serve to relieve the monotony of our physiological studies :

"Child of the Sun! pursue thy rapturous flight,
Mingling with her thou lov'st in fields of light;
And where the flowers of paradise unfold,
Quaff fragrant nectar from their cups of gold.
There shall thy wings, rich as an evening sky,
Expand and shut with silent ecstasy.

Yet thou wert once a worm, a thing that crept
On the bare earth, then wrought a tomb and slept!
And such is man,-soon from his cell of clay
To burst a seraph in the blaze of day!"

The animals called Insecta, or insects, then, are characterized by the possession of a horny external case or envelope composed of rings, and are furnished with three pairs of articulated legs, one pair of articulated feelers, and usually one or two pairs of wings, whilst their life-history is marked by a more or less complete transition from the imperfect or larval to the perfect or imago form.

Let us now glance rapidly at the classification of the

insect races, and seek that group to which our common Hive-Bee belongs. The division of the Class by naturalists into subclasses and orders has been effected, first, by a reference to the degree of metamorphosis that the group undergoes; and, secondly, to the absence or presence of wings, and, where these are present, to their number and character.

Thus, one group or subclass that undergoes no apparent change is called Ametabola; a second, in which the metamorphosis, though perceptible, is not complete, Hemimetabola; and the third, or highest subdivision, in which there is a complete transition from the worm-like or larval state, first to the pupal or motionless stage, and next to the imago or perfect insect, when the actual metamorphosis is effected, and the creature bursts forth from its tomb, fully fitted, both internally and externally, for its aërial existence :-this subclass is called Holometabola; and here we shall find our Honey-Bee, along with the Beetle, Fly, and many other insects.

On examining the wings of the Bee, we shall perceive them to be four in number (Pl. II. fig. 1): but this is not a sufficiently unique feature in its organization to enable us to determine the Order to which it appertains; for there are several other orders, of widely different types, such as the Coleoptera (Beetles), Lepidoptera (Butterflies), &c., all of which possess two pairs of wings. We must look therefore at the character of the wings themselves, and shall find them to be of a firm, parchment-like texture hence it is that

the Order has received its name, Hymenoptera, from two Greek words, denoting the membranous structure of these organs. To this Order belongs not only the Bee, but also the Wasp, the Ant, and some other insects, all remarkable for their highly developed instinct. These minor groups are termed families; and that which includes the Bee is the family of Apidæ, or true Bees, the Honey- or Hive-Bee being scientifically known as Apis mellifica.

The former designation (Apis) is that of its genus, and the latter (mellifica) of its species; but although its specific name is derived from a Latin word denoting its honey-making properties, it is not because it is the only species of Bee that produces this delicious substance (for there are others possessing the same attribute), but it is because to us its hive-labours render it par excellence the Honey-Bee. Once more, then, Apis mellifica, the Honey-Bee, belongs to the family Apida, or true Bees, included in the Hymenopterous (membranous-winged) order, of the class Insecta or insects, and in that subdivision of the Class known as Metabola or Holometabola, in consequence of the contained forms undergoing a complete metamorphosis; whilst (to complete our classification) the Insecta themselves occupy the highest rank as a class in that province of the Animal Kingdom known as the Articulata or Arthropoda (articulated feet), which are in their turn included in the great subkingdom of Invertebrata, or animals not possessed of an internal vertebrated skeleton.

Having thus acquitted ourselves of our obligations in the cause of systematic Zoology, and traced the correct position of our little Hive-Bee in the Animal Kingdom, let us now proceed to the less formal and more agreeable task of examining our subject with the aid of the lens, and endeavour to form a nearer acquaintance with its beautifully constructed organs and members. As there are three different kinds of inhabitants in a hive-the queen or perfect female, the drones or males, and the workers or partially developed females,—you might perhaps be puzzled which to select for investigation; for although they resemble one another to a great extent, yet each has its marked peculiarities. Inasmuch, however, as the worker is the most easily obtainable, and possesses some interesting features in its external anatomy that are wanting in the queen and drone, we shall choose it as the more immediate object of our study, and, as we proceed in its investigation, shall refer cursorily to the diversities of structure presented by the two last-named types.

In considering with the naked eye the general appearance of the worker-Bee (Pl. II. fig. 1), we cannot fail at once to notice that, in common with nearly all insects, its body is divided into three distinct parts or sections-the head (a), the thorax or chest (b), and the abdomen (c), which appear to be connected together as though they were strung upon a thread; and a very slight scrutiny will suffice to show that nearly all the members or appendages of the body are disposed on