3- ? 4 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



literai.lv CHECKED up HIS APPRECIATION 

 E A "MUCH NEEDED SCIENTIFIC JOB- 



Doctor George M. Gould, Atlantic City 

 New Jersey. Author of a long list ot 

 scientific books. 



I am so delighted with your admir- 

 able article on honeycomb that 1 am 

 sending von a little cheque Lor ? 10.00 

 subscription account. The Guide to Na- 

 ture You have done a much needed 

 scientific job! It is strange that alter 

 the long and numerous studies ot the 

 bee you have outdone all the students 

 in solving the riddle. 1 have long had 

 a suspicion that something was wrong 



with the hexagonal theory. 

 ***** 



"l SEE NO REASON TO DOUBT YOUR CON- 

 CLUSIONS." 



University of Pennsylvania, Philadel- 

 phia, Zoological Laboratory : Profes- 

 sor C. E. McClung. Zoologist. 



It seems to me that your account is 

 very plausible and reasonable. Upon 

 theoretical grounds T see no reason to 

 doubt your conclusions. The work of 

 your Association would seem to be of a 

 character to do much good for general 

 biology in this country and I wish you 

 much success. I hope the time will 

 come when such agencies as yours re- 

 ceive the practical encouragement due 

 them. You noted no doubt the place 

 assigned science in the program of the 

 Labor Party of England. It was most 

 encouraging to find the appreciation 

 of the fundamental position of science 



in human affairs. 



***** 



"PROVE YOUR POSTULATE .... BEYOND 

 QUESTION." 



The Brooklyn Institute of Arts and 

 Sciences, Department of Education 

 Professor John J. Schoonhoven, De 

 partment of Zoology. 



Permit me to express my apprecia- 

 tion of your interesting and illumina- 

 ting article on the honeybee in Thj 

 Guide to Nature. Your investigations 

 seem to me to prove your postulate ir 

 regard to the formation of bee cells be 

 vond question. You have done a dis- 

 tinct service for students by these stud- 

 ies and investigations. Too often 

 traditional knowledge goes unchalleng- 

 ed especially concerning matters of 



everyday experience and no one think? 

 of subjecting them to the acid test o, 



science as you have done. 



***** 



"yOUR ARTICLE SEEMS TO MAKE IT CLEAR." 



State Normal College, Ypsilanti, Mich- 

 igan: F. R. Gorton, Professor of 

 Physics. 



I have read your article on comb 

 building with a great deal of interest. 

 It is my feeling that we are apt to give 

 animals and insects credit for much 

 sagacity and highly developed instincts 

 where it is not merited. In fact a be- 

 ing of a superlative order might offer 

 certain operations of the human race as 

 evidence of marked genius in cases 

 where man has simply followed physi- 

 cal laws. 



I have the greatest admiration for 

 the honeybee which has been a source 

 of amusement as well as amazement 

 for many years. Its so-called instincts 

 are remarkable and afford many points 

 of vantage of which we can make use 

 in the handling of a colony. Neverthe- 

 less, it is for the scientist to discover 

 if possible what are actually instincts 

 and what are purely physical opera- 

 tions. I think your thesis is correct in 

 the main, but f should like to present 

 an additional fact or two which seem 

 to bear upon the subject somewhat vi- 

 tally. 



Your article seems to make it clear 

 as to the spacing of cells when started 

 on plain foundation, and it is also 

 plain that if the cell walls are to be 

 worked thin by pressing and scraping" 

 they will be worked out to rather sharp 

 ansfles which will be more or less roun- 

 ded out as the bees leave much or little 

 wax in the finishing process. Eurther, 

 cells might be three, four, five, six, or 

 more sided if it were not for two physi- 

 cal facts (1) the cell must be symmet- 

 rical from the fact that it is measured, 

 worked, and fitted around the body of 

 the bee, and (2) it must include an 

 angle which is contained in 360 degrees, 

 or at least nearly so. Three and four- 

 sided cells satisfy the second condition 

 perfectly, but conform too poorly to 

 the shape of a bee's body. In brief, the 

 six-sided figure is the only flat-sided 

 symmetrical cell which does fulfill both 

 conditions. It is not that the bee knows 

 how to make the hexagonal cell, but be 



