[190] Huber, i. 251.
[191] Some critics have found fault with Mr. Southey for ascribing, in his Curse of Kehama, to Camdeo, the Cupid of Indian mythology, a bow strung with bees. The idea is not so absurd as they imagine; and the poet doubtless was led to it by his knowledge of the natural history of these animals, and that they form themselves into strings or chaplets.—See Reaum. v. t. xxii. f. 3.
[192] Reaumur, 615-644.
"Alter erit maculis auro squalentibus ardens,
(Nam duo sunt genera) hic melior, insignis et ore,
Et rutilis clarus squamis: ille horridus alter
Desidiâ, latamque trahens inglorius alvum."
Georg. iv. 91—.
[194] Bees are generally thought to foresee the state of the weather: but they are not always right in their prognostics; for Reaumur witnessed a swarm, which after leaving the hive at half-past one o'clock were overtaken by a very heavy shower at three.
[195] Huber, i. 271.
[196] Huber, i. 305.
[197] Ibid. 280.
[198] Huber, i. 316.