The intestine when short, as in larvæ and most carnivora, is straight and but little if any longer than the abdomen, while in most plant eaters it is long and thus zig-zag in its course. Strange as it may seem, the fecal pellets of some insects are beautiful in form, and of others pleasant to the taste. In some caterpillars they are barrel-shaped, artistically fluted, of brilliant hue, and if fossilized, would be greatly admired, as have been the coprolites--fossil feces of quadrupeds--if set as gems in jewelry. As it is, they would form no mean parlor ornament. In other insects, as the Aphides or plant-lice, the excrement, as well as the fluid that escapes in some species from special tubes called the nectaries, is very sweet, and in absence of floral nectar, will often be appropriated by bees and conveyed to the hives. Imagination would make this a bitter draught, so here, as elsewhere in life, the bitter and sweet are mingled. In those insects that suck their food, as bees, butterflies, moths, two-wing flies and bugs, the feces are watery or liquid, while in case of solid food the excrement is solid. SECRETORY ORGANS OF INSECTS. I have already spoken of the salivary glands, which Kirby gives as distinct from the true silk-secreting tubes, though Newport gives them as one and the same. . In many insects these seem absent. I have also spoken of the mucous glands, the urinary tubules, etc. Besides these, there are other secretions which serve for purposes of defense: In the queen and workers of bees, and in ants and wasps, the poison intruded with the sting is an example. This is secreted by glands at the posterior of the abdomen, stored in sacks (Fig. 25, _c_), and extruded through the sting, as occasion requires. I know of no insects that poison while they bite, except it be mosquitoes, gnats, etc., and in these cases no special secreting organ has been discovered. Perhaps the beak itself secretes an irritating substance. A few exceedingly beautiful caterpillars are covered with branching spines, which sting about like a nettle. We have two such species. They are green, and of rare attraction, so that to capture them is worth the slight inconvenience arising from their irritating punctures. Some insects, like bugs, secrete a disgusting fluid or gas which affords protection, as by its stench it renders these filthy bugs so offensive that even a hungry bird or half-famished insect passes them by on the other side. Some insects secrete a gas which is stored in a sack at the posterior end of the body, and shot forth with an explosion in case that danger threatens thus by noise and smoke it startles its enemy, which beats a retreat. I have heard the little bombardier beetle at such times, even at considerable distances. The frightful reports about the terrible horn of the tomato-worm larva are mere nonsense. A more harmless animal does not exist. My little boy of four years, and girl of only two, used