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

A fourth class of this kind1 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.

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