116 Mr. G. R. Waterhouse on the 
(aggregates of cells) or isolated cells, both groups of insects men- 
tioned—bees and wasps—furnish all the different varieties above 
noticed. Bees and wasps, we must bear in mind, form two very 
extensive and distinct sections of the order Hymenoptera, distin- 
guished by many important points of structure. Each of these 
great sections is divided into families and genera, also charac- 
terized by differences of structure. Here then are insects of two 
distinct great sections furnishing repetitions of similar architecture 
in the construction of their nests and cells; on the other hand, 
we find instances of species of the same genus building nests and 
cells which are very dissimilar, not only as to the structure, but 
as to the material used. In short, insects, very dissimilar in form 
and structure, build similar nests and cells, and insects of (very 
nearly) the same form and structure build dissimilar nests and cells. 
From this we may infer, either that the influence of the form and 
structure of the insect upon that of the nest and cell must be but 
of minor importance; or, that the differences in the structure of 
the nests and cells are more apparent than real. I entertain the 
latter idea, and nearly thirty years back, when called upon to 
write the article ‘ Bee’ for the Penny Cyclopedia, I endeavoured 
to show that there was a common principle in action in all insect 
architecture, viz., that of working in segments of circles; and 
that, so far as the hive-bee was concerned, the cells of that insect 
furnished no exception to the rule. 
The theory propounded by me, in explanation of the form of 
the cell of the hive-bee, has been objected to by several able 
naturalists, since it will not serve likewise to explain the hex- 
agonal form of the cell of the wasp or hornet, it being surmised 
that the same laws would govern the form of the cell in both 
cases. 
In 1835, when I wrote the article alluded to, I was not ac- 
quainted with certain facts relating to the building of the wasp’s 
nest, and when I learnt that a single female wasp constructed, in 
the spring time, a nest made up of hexagonal cells, I felt that the 
objection that had been raised against my views was a very 
serious one. 
The leading idea with me, in respect to the cells of the honey- 
comb, was that of a number of insects working simultaneously 
(or nearly so) in a confined space; but, with the wasp, the case is 
different, and in fact, as I soon afterwards discovered, is pre- 
cisely the reverse ; for it is a single insect, in unconfined space, 
working simultaneously (or very nearly so) at many cells: 
that is, so far as the nest first formed by the female wasp is 
