The Life of the Bee 



problems which belong to the higher parts 

 of mathematics. It has accordingly been 

 resolved by some mathematicians, par- 

 ticularly by the ingenious Maclaurin, by 

 a fluctionary calculation which is to be 

 found in the Transactions of the Royal 

 Society of London. He has determined 

 precisely the angle required, and he found, 

 by the most exact mensuration the subject 

 would admit, that it is the very angle in 

 which the three planes at the bottom of 

 the cell of a honey comb do actually 

 meet." 



[56] 



I myself do not believe that the bees 

 indulge in these abstruse calculations ; 

 but, on the other hand, it seems equally 

 impossible to me that such astounding re- 



another mathematician, Cramer, whose solution came 

 even closer to that of the bees, viz., 109° 28^" for 

 the large angle, and 70° 31 }4" for the small. 

 194 



