50 



REVIEWS. 



The Honey-Bee, its natural history, habits, anatomy, and 

 microscopical beauty. By James Samuelson^ assisted by J. 

 Braxton Hicks, M.D. London : Van Voorst. 



The author of this little work, and his able assistant, Dr. 

 Hicks, are well known for a former attempt at making known 

 the structure of some of the more frequent forms of the lower 

 animals around us. We spoke very highly of ' The Earth- 

 worm and the Housefly/ when they appeared ; and we feel 

 called on to give the same meed of praise to ' The Honey-bee.' 

 Although Mr. Samuelson has gone over much ground that 

 was previously well trodden, in his account of the structure 

 and history of the habits of the bee, he has succeeded in 

 making the subject his own, and treating it in a way that 

 demands our praise in a literary point of view. The general 

 structure of the bee is highly interesting, and we do not knoAV 

 of any descriptions of the minuter points of the anatomy of 

 these insects which can claim to be more minute and accurate 

 than those contained in this little volume. As much of the 

 matter contained in this department of the volume has not 

 appeared before in a popular form, we take the liberty of 

 making rather a long extract from the chapter descriptive of 

 the eyes of the bee. The author expresses himself as in- 

 debted for this part of his work to the labours of Dr. Hicks, 

 who is well known to the cultivators of microscopical science 

 for the extent and accuracy of his observations. 



" In order to afford some idea of the general character and operation of 

 one of these compound eyes, we shall compare it to a bundle of telescopes 

 (3500, remember !), so grouped together that the large terminable lenses 

 p.resent an extensive convex surface, whilst, in consequence of the decreasing 

 (Tiameter of the instruments, their narrow ends meet and form a smaller 

 concentric curve. Now, if you can imagine it possible to look through all 

 these telescopes at one glance, obtaining a similar effect to that of the stereo- 

 scope, you will be able to form some conception of what is probably the 

 operation of vision in the Bee. This comparison, however, presents but a 



