CHAP. 25. (22.)—THE BOMBYX OF ASSYRIA.

A fourth class of this kind[1] of insect is the bombyx,[2] which is a native of Assyria, and is of larger size than any of those which have been previously mentioned. They construct their nests of a kind of mud which has the appearance of salt, and then fasten them to a stone, where they become so hard, that it is scarcely possible to penetrate them with a dart-even. In these nests they make wax, in larger quantities than bees, and the grub which they then produce is larger.

1. What modern naturalists call the "Hymenoptera."

2. Some kind of wasp, or, as Cuvier says, probably the mason bee.