under strict guard, till her predecessor has departed with her attendants. The same hive generally throws off two or three swarms in the course of the summer.

The working bees are extremely numerous. They gather honey from the nectar of flowers, and wax from the pollen or dust which covers the stamina of numerous plants. The latter they bring home in an unwrought state, in hollows under the thighs, which, after being eaten and macerated in the stomach, is discharged in small quantities, and moulded by the jaws into perfect wax.

It is very remarkable that in autumn, when the males are no longer needed, the neuters attack them, and sting them to death; after which they carry their dead bodies out of the hive. But if by any accident the queen has been destroyed or lost, they become exceedingly dejected and inactive, and gladly hail any one that chance may throw in their way: or they enlarge some of the cells containing the eggs of working bees, and feed the larvæ issuing from them with more abundant nourishment, and of a different quality, by which, when they change to flies, they become queens. It deserves notice, that they always keep a strong guard upon the entrance to the hive to keep out all foes; and that a few females in each hive are allowed to live during winter, in order to guard against accidents, and to lay the foundation of other societies.

The Ants, or Emmets, are a gregarious and proverbially industrious family, consisting, like bees, of males, females, and neuters. The neuters are the sole labourers, not only constructing the nests or ant-hills, and procuring food for the entire colony, but also protecting the larvæ, commonly called ants' eggs. They wander about all day in search of food or materials for their nests, and assist each other in bringing home whatever is too cumbersome for such as have attempted it. They daily bring out of the nest the newly hatched larvæ and expose them to the warmth of the sun, and feed them till they are able to provide for themselves. In the evening they consume what has been collected during the day, and do not, as is usually supposed, lay up any store for the winter.

But, of all Ants, the most remarkable family is that of the Termes, or White Ant. The White Ants are, indeed, a most extraordinary community, inhabiting the East In

dies, Africa, and South America. In wisdom and policy they far excel the Beaver, the Ant, or the Bee. The larva is about one-fourth of an inch in length, six-footed, without eyes, but possessing short, strong, and toothed mandibles. The pupa is about half-an-inch long, without. eyes, and furnished with projecting mandibles, which are long, sharp, and forked, but without teeth. Both the male and female have four long horizontal wings, a small head, short sharp toothed mandibles, and prominent round eyes. The larvæ, which are by far the most numerous class, are the sole labourers, and not only build their houses and provide food for the males and females, but also take charge of the eggs. Their habitations are shaped like pyramids, rising to the height of ten or twelve feet, divided into different apartments, store-rooms for their provisions, vaulted chambers, and galleries of communication. So admirably are these cemented, that four men may stand upon them without doing them the slightest injury; and so numerous are they in Senegal, that they have the appearance of native villages. The pupa never work, but they superintend the labourers, and guard their habitations from violence or intrusion. When a breach is made in their mansions they rush forward and defend the entrance with great ferocity; some of them beating with their mandibles against any hard substance, as a signal to the other guards, or as an encouragement to the labourers. The latter quickly hasten to the scene of action, each bearing a load of tempered mortar in his mouth, and instantly repair the damage that has been done. When a wall is being erected, one steward superintends six or eight hundred labourers, and often makes a noise with his mandible, which is invariably responded to by a loud hiss from the entire body of labourers who at the well-known signal evidently redouble their exertions. The males and females having been extricated from the pupa state, fly abroad in the night, but their winged life is of very short. duration; for no sooner has the sun arisen than their wings become dry, and they drop on the ground. Here they are either devoured by birds, or picked up by the inhabitants, who roast and eat them with great delight. Some few escape their foes, and these are humanely collected by the working Termites, and confined by pairs in mud

apartments, the openings of which are so small that they cannot pass through them; but they are carefully attended and fed by the larvæ, who can easily go out and in through the apertures. The Termites are perhaps the most destructive of insects; and the mischief they commit is done with wonderful dexterity and rapidity-scarcely any material except stone or metal being able to resist their attacks. In a single night they will completely destroy every article of wooden furniture, books, wearing apparel, or leather, in a house, not sparing even the flooring and rafters. Nay, in a few hours, a large beam will be hollowed out to a mere shell, not thicker than a sheet of writing paper.

The Scorpion has eight legs, and two clasps or hands on the fore part of the head; eight eyes-three on each side of the thorax, and two on the back; two projecting feelers; a long jointed tail, terminated by a sharp crooked sting; and two instruments resembling combs, situated between the breast and abdomen. The comb teeth vary in number, in the different families, from six to thirtytwo. All scorpions are armed with a pungent sting, but it is only in very hot climates that any dangerous consequences flow from the wounds they inflict. In Europe their sting is never fatal, and the animal rarely exceeds three inches in length. In tropical climates, however, it frequently exceeds a foot in length, and its sting is often fatal. They prey upon spiders, flies, worms, &c., and also upon one another. Both the larva and pupa are eight footed, nimble, and have considerable resemblance to the perfect insect.

SECTION V.

MISCELLANEOUS.

I.-Life of Columbus.

Ar the beginning of the fifteenth century, when the most intelligent minds were seeking in every direction for the scattered lights of geographical knowledge, a profound ignorance prevailed among the learned as to the western regions of the Atlantic; its vast waters were regarded with awe and wonder, seeming to bound the world as with a chaos, into which conjecture could not penetrate, and enterprise feared to adventure. It is the obJect of the following notice briefly to relate the deeds and fortunes of the mariner who first had the judgment to divine, and the intrepidity to brave, the mysteries of this perilous deep; and who, by his hardy genius, his inflexible constancy, and his heroic courage, brought the ends of the earth into communication with each other. The narrative of his troubled life is the link which connects the history of the old world with that of the new.

Christopher Colon, or Columbus, was born, it is believed, in the city of Genoa, about the year 1435. He was the eldest son of a wool-comber, whose ancestors seem to have followed the same trade in that city for several generations. While very young, Columbus was taught reading, writing, grammar, and arithmetic, and made some proficiency in drawing. He soon evinced a strong passion for geographical knowledge, and an irresistible inclination for the sea; and his father seeing the bent of his mind, endeavoured to give him an education suitable for a maritime life. He sent him, therefore, to the University of Pavia, where he was instructed in geometry, geography, astronomy, navigation, and the Latin tongue. Here he remained but a short time, harely sufficient to give him

the rudiments of the necessary sciences. Shortly after leaving the university, he entered into nautical life, and, according to his own account, begar to navigate at fourteen years of age. A complete obscurity rests upon this part of his history. It is believed he made his first voyages with one Columbo, a hardy captain of the seas, who had risen to some distinction by his bravery, and who was a distant connexion of his family; and it would appear that he sailed with this relative until, by his merit and perseverance, he rose to be the commander of a vessel.

About this time the Portuguese were prosecuting mari. time discovery with great ardour. Cape Bojador had been doubled; the region of the tropics penetrated and divested of its fancied terrors; the greater part of the African coast, from Cape Blanco to Cape de Verde, explored, and the Cape de Verde and Azore Islands discovered. The fame of these discoveries drew the attention of the world; and the learned, the curious, and the adventurous, resorted to Lisbon to engage in the enterprises continually fitting out. Among the rest, Columbus arrived there about the year 1470. At Lisbon he married the daughter of an Italian, who had been one of the most distinguished navigators under Prince Henry, the special patron of these discoveries. From his mother-in-law he obtained the charts, journals, and manuscripts belonging to her late husband. By these means he became acquainted with the routes of the Portuguese, their plans and ideas, and he still farther improved himself in geographical knowledge by several voyages to the coast of Guinea. These and other circumstances led him more and more to speculate on the great object of geographical enterprise, and while others were slowly and painfully seeking a route to India by following up the coast of Africa, his daring genius conceived the bold idea of turning his prow directly to the west, and seeking the desired land by a route across the Atlantic.

Columbus was moved to this determination by a diligent study of all the geographical theories of the ancients, aided by his own experience, by the discoveries of the moderns, and the advancement of astronomical science. He set it down as a fundamental principle that the earth was a terraqueous globe, which might be travelled over from east to west, or the contrary. The space extending