ays
select the right end, and with what secretion is it supplied to
decompose this mortar?"]

A formidable species (_Sphex ferruginea_ of St. Fargeau), which is
common to India and most of the eastern islands, is regarded with the
utmost dread by the unclad natives, who fly precipitately on finding
themselves in the vicinity[1] of its nests. These are of such ample
dimensions, that when suspended from a branch, they often measure
upwards of six feet in length.[2]

[Footnote 1: It ought to be remembered in travelling in the forests of
Ceylon that sal volatile applied immediately is a specific for the sting
of a wasp.]

[Footnote 2: At the January (1839) meeting of the Entomological Society,
Mr. Whitehouse exhibited portions of a wasps' nest from Ceylon, between
seven and eight feet long and two feet in diameter, and showed that the
construction of the cells was perfectly analogous to those of the hive
bee, and that when connected each has a tendency to assume a circular
outline. In one specimen where there were three cells united the outer
part was circular, whilst the portions common to the three formed
straight walls. From this Singhalese nest Mr. Whitehouse demonstrated
that the wasps at the commencement of their comb proceed slowly, forming
the bases of several together, whereby they assume the hexagonal shape,
whereas, if constructed separately, he thought each single cell would be
circular. See _Proc. Ent. Soc._, vol. iii. p. 16.]

_Bees._--Bees of several species and genera, some unprovided with
stings, and some in size scarcely exceeding a house-fly, deposit their
honey in hollow trees, or suspend their combs from a branch. The spoils
of their industry form one of the chief resources of the uncivilised
Veddahs, who collect the wax in the upland forests, to be bartered for
arrow points and clothes in the lowlands.[1] I have never heard of an
instance of persons being attacked by the bees of Ceylon, and hence the
natives assert, that those most productive of honey are destitute of
stings.

[Footnote 1: A gentleman connected with the department of the
Surveyor-General writes to me that he measured a honey-comb which he
found fastened to the overhanging branch of a small tree in the forest
near Adam's Peak, and found it nine links of his chain or about six feet
in length and a foot in breadth where it was attached to the branch, but
tapering towards the other extremity. "It was a single comb with a layer
of ce