The Bees employ their antennæ for various purposes; amongst others, to ascertain the character and form of objects and substances, as a guide in the construction of their cells, and to communicate information to one another, the last-named end being accomplished by crossing their feelers with those of their congeners.

Whilst its antennæ remain unimpaired, the instincts of the Bee are wonderfully active and acute; but as soon as it is deprived of these mysterious organs, its whole nature seems to undergo a change, and its psychical or mental state may then be compared to that of an imbecile or insane person-to one, in fact, who has "lost his senses.'

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With the view of illustrating this observation, we shall repeat two anecdotes related by Huber, and transferred from the pages of Messrs. Kirby and Spence:-"You have seen that the organ of the language of ants is their antennæ. Huber has proved satisfactorily that these parts have the same use with the Bees. He wished to ascertain whether, when they had lost a queen (intelligence which traverses a whole hive in about an hour), they discovered the sad event by their smell, their touch, or any unknown cause. He first divided a hive by a grate, which kept the two portions about three lines apart, so that they could not come at each other, though scent would pass*. In that part in which there was

* If scent would pass and did not fail to attract the Bees, sound would pass also; according to Huber's views, therefore, it

no queen the bees were soon in great agitation, and as they did not discover her where she was confined, in a short time they began to construct royal cells, which quieted them. He next separated them by a partition through which they could pass their antennæ, but not their heads. In this case the bees all remained tranquil, neither intermitting the care of the brood nor abandoning their other employments, nor did they begin any royal cell*. The means they used to assure themselves that the queen was in their vicinity, and to communicate with her, was to pass their antennæ through the openings of the grate. An infinite number of these organs might be seen at once, as it were, inquiring in all directions, and the queen was observed answering these anxious inquiries of her subjects in the most marked manner, for she was always fastened by her feet to the grate, crossing her antennæ with those of the inquirers. Various other experiments, which are too long to relate, prove the importance of these organs as instruments of communicating with each other, as well as to direct the Bee in all its proceedings."

But the second anecdote will exhibit to us the disastrous effect produced by the loss of these organs.

"The amputation of one of the antennæ of a queenbee appears not to affect her perceptibly, but cut

would appear that the antennæ (which he shows to be the media of communication) were neither organs of scent nor of sound. * This will be explained hereafter; it indicates that they knew the queen to be present.

ting off both these organs produces a very striking derangement of her proceedings. She seems in a species of delirium, and deprived of all her instincts; everything is done at random; yet the respect and homage of the workers towards her, though they are received by her with indifference, continue undi minished. If another in the same condition be put in the hive, the bees do not appear to discover the difference, and treat them both alike; but if a perfect one be introduced, even though fertile, they seize her, keep her in confinement, and treat her very unhandsomely. One may conjecture from this circumstance that it is by those wonderful organs, the antennæ, that the bees know their own queen."

Although we are not in a position to state decidedly what is the precise function of the antennæ, we may mention that the opinion, derived chiefly from their anatomical structure, is gaining ground, that they are organs of hearing as well as touch, and the mode of their application leads to the same belief. The question is however, as before stated, still undecided, and it presents a most interesting field for research, not only to those who employ the microscope in the investigation of the anatomy of insects, but also to naturalists who observe their habits, and in either case the careful student can hardly fail to throw additional light upon the inquiry*.

* There is no doubt whatever that the Bee possesses the senses of touch, hearing, and smell, or functions corresponding therewith; the difficulty is to assign to them a locality.

Having now examined the mysterious antennæ, and briefly referred to the present state of our knowledge regarding their functions, let us ask you once more to take up your lens and proceed with us in the investigation of the Bee's head, of which we have not by any means exhausted the scientific treasury. At the first glance, however, it is difficult to discover any other features of interest upon this part of the body; but a more careful investigation, especially in the living Bee, soon reveals an apparatus as complicated and remarkable as any that is to be found in the insect world.

The next time you observe a Bee as it enters the corolla of some fragrant flower in search of honey, take notice of the appearance presented by the pointed termination of its head (Pl. III. fig. 1, d), and you will see the two halves into which the extremity is divided opened from time to time, and a set of beautiful organs protruded (Pl. V. fig. 1). These constitute the oral apparatus, or the organs of the mouth, which lie folded up underneath the head when not in use, and to these we shall now direct our attention.

It is well known that in the most perfect form of the masticating apparatus of insects, there are to be found the following symmetrical parts:-(1.) A horizontal labrum or upper lip, and a labium or lower lip, the latter being furnished with two lateral organs known as the labial palpi or feelers, and both lips working up and down perpendicularly like our own. These portions of the apparatus, when closed, usually

cover the remaining oral organs, which consist (2) of a pair of jaws called the mandibles, and (3) of a second pair, the maxillæ, there being appended to the latter another pair of lateral feelers (the maxillary palpi): the maxillary organs work at right angles to the upper and lower lip, that is to say, horizontally, and operate after the manner of a pair of scissors.

Now, in the Coleoptera, or Beetle tribes, especially those that gnaw wood or other hard substances, the jaws are very powerfully developed, whilst in some other insects these organs are transformed into what is termed a "proboscis" or suction-pump, with which the creature secures the ambrosial juices of flowers. Again, in the Fly, &c. there exist, coupled with this proboscis, a pair of lancets (metamorphosed maxillæ), wherewith the insect is enabled to puncture the substances from which it extracts the juices; and this type reaches its highest development in the dreaded Gnat, where we find almost the whole apparatus to consist of a series of long pointed instruments, that inflict so painful a wound even upon man.

But far more extraordinary than all these types, and perfectly adapted in every respect to the ends required, do we find the oral apparatus of the Bee, which presents a beautiful combination of the foregoing varieties of structure.

Its mandibles form, when closed, the split, pointed termination of the head (Pl. III. fig. 1, a); but when they are separated, they will be found to resemble a pair of serrated or toothed pincers (Pl. V. fig. 1, b b).