122 INSECT MISCELLANIES. 



their eyes.* The observations of Dr Evans corro- 

 borate those of Wildman. ' We frequently observe 

 bees,' he «ays, ' flying straight homeward through the 

 trackless air, as if in full view of the hive ; then run- 

 ning their heads against it, and seeming to feel their 

 way to the door, with their antennae, as if totally blind. '| 

 The experiments of Sir C. S. Mackenzie support the 

 same doctrine, for he remarked the imperfect vision of 

 bees, and how much they are sometimes puzzled to 

 find their way, if the hives were removed two or three 

 yard's from the place where they usually stood ; and 

 he found that, for the first day or so, they did not 

 venture to fly to a distance, till they had visited and re- 

 cognized neighbouring objects. J 



The author of ' The Pleasures of Memory,' upon 

 the authority of Prevost, adopts the notion of bees 

 being near-sighted : 



* Hark! the bee winds her small but mellow horu, 

 Blithe to salute the sunny smile of morn. 

 O'er thymy downs she bends her busy course. 

 And many a stream allures her to its source. 

 'Tis noon, 'tis night. That eye, so finely wrought 

 Beyond the search of sense, the soar of thought. 

 Now vainly asks the scenes she left behind ; 

 Its orb so full , its vision so confined ! 

 Who guides the patient pilgrim to her cell ? 

 Who bids her soul with conscious triumph swell ? 

 With conscious truth retrace the mazy clue 

 Of varied scents that charm'd her as she flew ? 

 Hail ! Memory, hail ! thy universal reign 

 Guards the least link of being's glorious chain. ' 



But unfortunately for this poetical fancy, it does not 

 accord with the facts ; for independently of the prac- 



* The Honey-Bee, p. 311. 



t The Bees, a Poem. 



X Bevan on the Honey-Bee, p. 314^ 



