322 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



strictly physical laws and not the re- 

 sult of blind instinct nor of any bio- 

 logical "intent" and still less of any- 

 thing in any way approaching an intel- 

 ligence almost superior to human intel- 

 ligence. 



My Thesis and the Darwinian Theory. 



In my article on "How Honeybees 

 Produce Honeycomb," page 256 of our 

 number for February, I made this 

 statement in regard to the bees : " They 

 never yet have been able to make a 

 hexagon nor to learn how to make one, 

 Darwin and a host of minor lights 

 chiefly the utilitarian beekeepers, to 

 the contrary notwithstanding." 



I did not mean to imply that I dis- 

 agree wholly with Darwin and with 

 the utilitarian beekeepers for on some 

 phases of the discussion I am in per- 

 fect agreement with them. In develop- 

 ing the demonstration I could not ex- 

 plain all points of view, but several 

 scientific friends who cordially sup- 

 port my thesis say that Darwin held a 

 similar opinion and that I am in accord 

 with him. One learned professor says 

 that I do injustice to Darwin when I 

 imply that there is any disagreement. 



Darwin was a careful observer, and 

 was nearly always correct in his ob- 

 servations and in the statement of 

 facts, but not all of us will agree with 

 all his deductions. He was so intent up- 

 on strengthening his thesis of the strug- 

 gle for existence, natural selection, sur- 

 vival of the fittest, etc., that he used 

 some facts as a part of his philosophy 

 that in my opinion do not belong there. 

 The very fact that in his "The Origin 

 of Species" he devoted space to the 

 subject of comb building shows that 

 he regarded it as part of his theory of 

 evolution. Many aspects of honeybees 

 and perhaps even of comb building! 

 rightly belong in a philosophy of evo- 

 lution but the structure of the hexa- 

 gons does not. I quote from him : 



"By such modifications of instincts 

 which in themselves are not very won- 

 derful, — hardly more wonderful than 

 those which guide a bird to make its 

 nest, — I believe that the hive-bee has 

 acquired, through natural selection, her 

 inimitable architectural powers." 



"That individual swarm which thus 

 made the best cells with least labour 



and least waste of honey in the secre- 

 tion of wax, having succeeded best, and 

 having transmitted their newly-ac- 

 quired economical instincts to new 

 swarms, which in their turn will have 

 had the best chance of succeeding in 

 the struggle for existence." 



Aye, there's the rub. "Has acquired 

 .... her inimitable architectural pow- 

 ers," and "newly-acquired economical 

 instincts." On the structure of the 

 hexagons I agree as perfectly with Dar- 

 win as I would in a discussion of hex- 

 agonal soap bubbles, but I deny that 

 there have been any acquired instincts, 

 etc. Whenever hexagons were pro- 

 duced as a result of the honeybees 

 working in wax, they were solely the 

 result of physical laws as perfectly as 

 they are now and for the same reason. 



Let me illustrate by a partly imigi- 

 nary story. I was taking a company 

 of pupils on an inspection tour through 

 an insane asylum and its grounds. As 

 we were walking in a picturesque 

 place, an attendant called my attention 

 to an old man sitting in the shade of 

 a tree with a basket of balls that he was 

 tossing one after another in the air. 

 Said the attendant, "I think you will 

 find his answer interesting if you ask 

 him what he is doing." 



"Yes, sir," the old man said, "I am 

 quite an expert in making these balls 

 come down to the ground. When I 

 was a young boy I began to throw 

 balls into the air; they did not come 

 down very well, but I have practised 

 at this all my life, and now," as he tos- 

 sed another, "you see I have acquired 

 an instinct. I possess inimitable gravi- 

 tational powers so that after these long 

 decades of practise I can bring them 

 down in a perfect manner." 



In the building was another aged 

 person with a clay pipe and soapy 

 water engaged in blowing a pile of bub- 

 bles on a plate. Said the attendant. 

 "That man thinks he is a geometric 

 artist." 



"Yes, sir,' he replied, "I am a skilled 

 man because I have all my life practised 

 blowing bubbles. I began when I was 

 a boy and obtained inferior hexagonal 

 results within the pile, but there is 

 nothing like keeping at it. I have 

 practiced all my life and," to illustrate 

 his argument he dipped his pipe in the 

 suds, "now, you see, I have acquired 



