35© C. DAWSON AND S. A. WOOD HE AD [nov. 1899 



indirectly, as previously mentioned, by the thickness of the cooling 

 mass. The size of the hexagons may be varied experimentally from 

 those of nearly an inch across to others of microscopic dimensions. 



At the time of writing this paper, we have not yet succeeded in 

 casting a large sheet of wax containing groups or rows of hexagons so 

 perfectly regular as those which are to be seen in a natural comb, or 

 in a comb built upon the ordinary manufactured comb-foundation. 

 We do not pretend, even after many experiments, to be able to cast 

 a foundation of hexagons with the same comparative exactitude as 

 those made by a bee. Although we have little doubt that we may 

 soon be able to do so, we cannot expect, in a few limited experiments, 

 to compete with the bee, whose seeming aptitude is probably the 

 outcome of ages of natural selection and adaptation. Yet the bees 

 still prefer to adopt our less regular groups or rows of hexagons as 

 bases to work upon, rather than pull our wax plate to pieces, so as to 

 recast the wax with greater regularity. 



A further outcome of our discoveries is that paraffin wax and 

 adulterated beeswax do not assume the same " crystalline " form as 

 pure beeswax. 



We have succeeded in producing a variety of characteristic forms 

 of these " crystalline " bodies by the treatment of certain waxes with 

 other fats, oils, or waxes. The analytical value of these experiments 

 we may hope to prove to be very great, both directly and indirectly, 

 and to open up an immense field of crystallography in its relation to 

 oils, fats, and waxes. 



It has also naturally occurred to our minds that the formation of 

 certain intricate structures by other insects may be also more or less 

 directly due to crystalline and pseudo-crystalline formations. 



Uckfield, Sussex. 



