. Homes without hands. : Being a description of the habitations of animals, classed according to their principle of construction. Animals. 608 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. the enclosed queen. I have .seen them as large as cocoa-nuts, and of an extraordinary weight, the greater portion of the mass heing solid FUNGUS The accompanying illustration represents a most singular structure, which is in the collection of the British Museum, and may be seen in the nest room. It is hardly possible to imagine any object which less re- sembles an insect's nest. It might very well be taken for a sponge,
. Homes without hands. : Being a description of the habitations of animals, classed according to their principle of construction. Animals. 608 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. the enclosed queen. I have .seen them as large as cocoa-nuts, and of an extraordinary weight, the greater portion of the mass heing solid FUNGUS The accompanying illustration represents a most singular structure, which is in the collection of the British Museum, and may be seen in the nest room. It is hardly possible to imagine any object which less re- sembles an insect's nest. It might very well be taken for a sponge, did sponge grow in the forests of Cayenne. It much resembles a fungus, and might be mistaken for an overgrown and partially decayed puff-ball. If inspected closely it seems to be made of the same fungus that furnishes the German tinder, and is indeed, like that substance, very useful as a means of stopping the flow of blood. The real material, however, of which the nest is made, is formed of the short cottony fibres which fill the seed pods of the cotton tree {Bonibax ceiba). The fibre is so short that it is in- capable of being woven into fabrics, though it might possibly be made useful in the manufacture of paper, its texture being peculiarly soft and silky The only uses to which it is at present applied are stuffing mattrasses and pillows, and packing. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Wood, J. G. (John George), 1827-1889; Keyl, Friedrich Wilhelm, 1823-1871; Smith, E. A. (Edward Alfred); Pearson, G. (George). London : Longmans, Green, and Co.
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Keywords: ., bookauthorwo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectanimals
