burial-ground of Scutari extends for miles in length, and among high and turbaned tombstones, with gold-lettered inscriptions, mournful cypresses are thickly planted. (Alexander's Travels from India, p. 240.) There is a very large burying-ground, shaded by an extensive forest of cypresses at Bournabat, a village of elegant country houses built in the European fashion, belonging to the merchants of Smyrna. (Hobhouse's Travels in Albania, vol. i. p. 640.)" (Encyc. of Gard., ed. 1834, p. 300.)

Persian Cemeteries." There are said to be 1001 mausoleums at Shiraz; those of Chodsja Hafiz and Saadi Sjeraft (both celebrated poets) are the most beautiful. The burial-place of the first (fig. 96.) is situated at Muselli, an estate pos

sessed by Hafiz, who, it is remarked, was not buried by the nation, but had the expenses of his funeral defrayed out of his own private fortune. His cemetery is square and spacious, shaded by poplars (a rare tree in Persia), and having a lion carved in stone on each side of the entrance. The wall is built of brick, and coincides in direction with the cypress trees of the surrounding garden. The ground is strewed with tombstones, and divers sepulchral memorials of those who had desired to be buried under the guardian influence of the poet. Entering from the neighbouring garden, which was bequeathed to the cemetery, the keeper conducts a stranger into the place of the sepulchre. This is surrounded by lattice-work, and contains three tumuli besides the grave of the poet; one encloses the remains of a secular prince, and the other two illustrious individuals, who, when living, were disciples of Hafiz. In the place of the sepulchre sits a priest, who repeats verses from the Koran in praise of the illustrious dead, and enumerates their virtues; when he has finished, another, and afterwards a third, in the open burying-place, take up the same theme; so that the lamentations are incessant. The tombs are placed in a row; and the form of all of them is the same. They are about the size of a sarcophagus, and have each a large stone, about a man's height, at both ends. The stone of which they are made is of a common kind, and unpolished. On each side are sculptured verses from the Koran, and on the stones placed at the feet are elegant epitaphs. Hafiz died A. D. 1340. (Kampfer's Aman. Exot., &c., fas. ii. rel. vi. p. 367.)" (Encyc. of Gard., ed. 1834, p. 371.) In the Chinese cemeteries (figs. 95. 97.), trees of various descriptions are introduced, and the tombs are of very remarkable forms. "About Canton and Macao the high lands are very little cultivated, being generally set apart for burying the dead; those about Canton are entirely occupied as cemeteries, the low grounds, which can be covered with water, being the only ones which will produce rice. (Dobell's Travels, &c., vol. ii. p. 191.) Sometimes, however, the

Chinese choose a valley for a cemetery, as that of the Vale of Tombs near the lake See Hoo. (fig. 95.) The Chinese burying-place near the Yellow River (fig. 97.) is a specimen of a cemetery on high ground." (Encyc. of Gard., ed. 1834, p. 338.)

(To be continued.)

ART. IV. On the Hornet. By J. WIGHTON.

SOME persons doubt if the hornet mentioned in Holy Writ be the same kind as our hornet: they ground their doubt on the fact that hornets, like wasps, will seldom attack or sting any one without provocation. This, however, is groundless; for He who sent the hornet as a scourge on the Canaanites would make them fulfil it; and, though we are not told of the fulfilment of the scourge, still we may conclude that it was fulfilled, and that too dreadfully. But be all this as it may, though the hornet be not the largest stinging insect we have, still it is the most formidable one. Fortunately hornets are not so numerous as their fellow species the wasps, otherwise they would strike terror, especially to those that startle at the sight of a wasp or a bee. I have conversed with several who have been stung by hornets, and they said the pain was great: I have been thrice stung by them myself, and, except in one, the pain was not much greater than I have felt from the sting of a wasp; and that was not enough to make me believe the old saying, that "nine hornets could sting a horse to death." Some feel more pain from a sting than others; there are even instances of persons dying from the sting of a bee, but such are rare occurrences, such as that of a prick from a pin or thorn causing death. However, I wish none to be stung by hornets; my object is only to mention something about their habits. In doing this, I find I can glean but little from authors: they merely say that the hornet is a species of wasp, and their habits are similar. Professor Wilson, however, observes that the Véspa Cràbro (the hornet) has never appeared in Scotland. Though the hornet is a species of wasp, indeed it may be called the king of the wasps, yet it differs a little from the wasp in its habits: for instance, the hornet rarely builds its nest in the ground, and we never find it suspended from a branch in the open air. A dry hollow tree, and somewhere under the roof of a shed or barn, are the favourite sites of the hornet. When in possession of either of the latter places, their nest may be seen fixed to a spar by several little props or pillars, having a large opening below in this respect it differs from the wasps' nests, especially those seen upon a branch; they are closed below, except a small hole or two to enter at. The opening is to allow the excrement from the insects to pass through, it being far greater than from wasps; so much so, that from a strong colony of hornets a filthy fluid is always dropping. In spring, the hornet, like the wasp, begins her nest alone. Both collect their materials from decayed wood, and the hornet chooses that which is more decayed. It seems doubtful if either use saliva or resin from trees in working up the materials. Hornets may be seen entering their nest with clear drops in their mouths, which differ neither in touch nor taste from water: whether this fluid is to carry on the structure, or to feed the brood, I cannot rightly say; but I suspect it is for the former purpose. The materials, being so very dry, of course require moisture before they can be formed into paper, which is of a coarser texture than that formed by the wasp. Both rear their structures nearly alike, except that the hornets' cells are made larger; viz. the combs are ranged horizontally, and form many distinct parallel stories, supported by many little pillars; more are added as the weight increases, and they are sometimes attached to the cocoons of the insects while in their cells, and are cut through when they come forth. The mouths of the cells are downwards; consequently the tops of the combs are

:

composed of the bases of the cells, and form nearly a level floor, on which the insects can pass and repass. The spaces between the first-formed, or workers', combs in the hornet's nest are about half an inch high, in those of the queen 1 in.; but the spaces in both are reduced by the cocoons of the insects, especially that of the queen, which protrudes beyond the rest. Though hornets' cells are larger than those of wasps, still they are not so numerous, and of course their progeny is less, except the queens and drones, which are far greater, and are reared last in the colony: they amount to several hundreds; indeed, the whole cells in autumn are occupied by them. The drones are principally in the workers' cells, but they are found also in those of the queen those bred in the latter appear to be of a larger size. It is not so with the wasps; among them the drones and queens are bred together in larger cells in the last-formed combs, and working wasps are reared until the colony disperse.

I have made these remarks from a hornet's nest taken from a hollow tree on the 25th of Sept. At that time the wasps were getting weak, and careless about their nests, while the hornets were in full vigour. The nest contained nine divisions of combs, full of eggs and brood; even the last comb, or rather the embryo of one, being only five cells, just begun, contained eggs a little larger than wasps'; but, like theirs, deposited on one side, a little from the bottom of their cells. This affords room for the excrements from the grubs, which was the black substance found in the empty cells when the colony was upset. It contained more drones and queens than workers; several hundreds more came forth. During a month nine kept the nest in a hothouse; but, strange to say, not one worker, their cells being full of brood drones, as already noticed. I put one worker into the nest: though wingless, he foraged about, and, on the least alarm, he was always the first to appear. When pressed with hunger, he came with the rest and ate from my hand. I cannot say whether the drones or young queens take any part in the colony; the former quit in search of food; they are larger than the workers, are known from them by their long dark feelers or horns, and by having no sting. The queens are larger; I never saw them abroad in search of food; probably they are fed by the workers, and before becoming torpid eat the dying larvæ. It may be worthy of remark, that, though there were many males and females in the nest alluded to, I could not discern them meeting to insure a future increase; as the drones and workers perish at the end of the season, it must take place before then. The queens, like those of the wasp, hide themselves during winter amongst dry moss, &c., in a torpid state, until the warmth of spring calls them forth to begin fresh colonies.

Since the above was written, Dr. Neill, who is well known as a naturalist as well as a horticulturist, sent me word that he has never met with the Véspa Cràbro in Scotland. I cannot do better than give his own words on this subject: "I sent the hornets to the Rev. J. Duncan, in whose rich collection they will have a place. He writes me thus: 'I have no hesitation in saying that you may assure your correspondent that the hornet does not occur in Scotland. I have stated this as my belief in a paper on the Wasp, in the 12th volume of the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture. I never saw a hornet in this country, nor ever heard of one occurring. It extends much farther north on the Continent; but we cannot infer from that that it should likewise be found here. It is so conspicuous and formidable an insect, that, had it existed here, it is not likely it would have been overlooked.' From such evidences, especially the Rev. J. Duncan's, who may be styled the Scottish Kirby, we may conclude there are no hornets in Scotland; and it is very natural for us to ask why. Want of proper food cannot be the cause, for wasps find nourishment there. The wet and cold variable springs in Scotland may have something to do with it, by arousing the insects at an improper time; but not all, for the hornet can endure, perhaps, more cold than the wasp, they are often abroad both night and day after the wasps disappear. I may add, that I once exposed hornets abroad during a cold night; in the morning