OF ARTS AND SCIENCES : JANUARY 9, 1866. 



75 



A 



Fig. 3. 



O" 



two of the opposite angles of the hexagon, 

 Fig. 3, A, a, will be in the same vertical 

 line, and two of the sides will be parallel to ° 

 this. The same is true of the opposite side 

 of the comb ; and thus all the corresponding 

 parts of the cells on the two sides will be par- b « 

 allel. In the deviation we are now noticing, 

 the change is like that represented in A, 

 where the cell a is in its true position, while 

 the cell b, which is from the opposite side, 

 and is in contact with a, varies from it by 

 about 30°. If we look at these two cells in the direction of their sides 

 as at B, the prism a will have one of its angles towards the eye, and b 

 one of its sides. If rows of cells are constructed on each of the sides 

 a and b, Fig. 3, B, it will be seen that the rows thus formed on the two 

 faces of the comb will cross each other continually. A modification of 

 this variety is seen at G, where the axes of the two adjoining prisms, 

 instead of being separated as usual by the semidiameter of a cell, 

 coincide ; consequently, as the apices of the angles of a project be- 

 yond the sides of b, a will not only be in contact with b, but by its 

 angles with the six cells by which b is surrounded. In either of 

 these cases the pyramidal base becomes impracticable, and the flat 

 bottom of the cell is substituted for it almost as a matter of necessity. 

 The bottoms of the cells being flat, it is obvious that the change of 

 position by rotation of the cell on its axis may be carried to any ex- 

 tent, without leading to an interference with the cells of the opposite 

 side ; in fact several degrees of it have been observed. 



Since the mouths of such cells are in the same plane with those nor- 

 mally constructed in the same comb, and since the pyramidal base is 

 cut off, they are shortened by an amount equal to the height of that of 

 the base, and therefore are of a proportionately less capacity than the 

 normal cell. Nevertheless, such truncated cells are used for rearing 

 the young, and, like the others, were found to contain cocoons. 



In curved or bent combs the cells on the concave side tend to become 

 narrower, while those on the other tend to become broader towards 

 their mouths. The bees meet this emergency in one of the fullowing 

 ways : — 



On the convex side, — 



1st. By allowing the cavity of this cell to become broader, without 

 any correction being made. 



