29Q 'Die Life and Writings of Francis Huher. 



construction of those wonderful hives, which seem, by their per^ 

 fection, to resolve the most delicate problem of geometry ; he 

 assigned to each class of bees the part it takes in this construc- 

 tion, and traced their labours from the rudiments of the first 

 cell to the completed perfection of the comb. He made known 

 the ravages which the Sphinx atropos produces in the hives into 

 which it insinuates itself* ; he even endeavoured to unravel the 

 history of the senses of the bees, and especially to examine the 

 seat of the sense of smell, the existence of which is proved by 

 the whole history of these insects, while the situation of the 

 organ had never been determined with any certainty. Finally, 

 he prosecuted a curious research into the respiration of bees. 

 He proved by very many curious experiments that bees con- 

 sume oxygen gas like other animals. But how can the air be- 

 come renewed, and preserve its purity in a hive plastered with 

 cement, and closed on all its sides, except at the narrow orifice 

 which serves for a door ? This problem demanded all the saga- 

 city of our observer, and he at length ascertained that the bees, 

 by a particular movement of their wings, agitated the air in such 

 a way as to effect its renovation ; — and having assured himself 

 by direct observation, he farther proved its correctness by means 

 of artificial ventilation. 



These experiments on respiration required some analysis of 

 the air of hives, and this circumstance brought Huber into con- 

 nexion with Sennebier, who was much engaged in analogous re- 

 searches with respect to vegetables. Among the means which 

 Huber had conceived for ascertaining the nature of air in hives, 

 was that of causing certain seeds to germinate in it, founded on 

 a vague opinion that seeds will not sprout in air much deprived 

 of oxygen. This experiment, imperfect as it respects the direct 

 object in view, united the two friends in the engagement of pur- 

 suing their researches into the nature of germination, and a cu- 

 rious fact with respect to this association between a blind man 

 and one of cleai* vision, is, that more frequently it was Senebier 

 who suggested the experiments, and Huber that performed 

 them. Their works have been published in their joint names, 



• This part of his researches had already appeared in the Bibliotheque 

 Britannique, in 1804, t. xxvii. pp. 275 and 358, under the title of " Letter to 

 M. Pictet. 



