The Mason-Wasps 



Let us not waste our materials. Each par- 

 tition must serve two neighbouring apart- 

 ments." 



How will the insect set about solving its 

 problem? To begin with, it abandons any 

 circular form. The cylinder, the urn, the 

 cup, the sphere, the gourd, the cupola and 

 the other little structures of their customary 

 art cannot be grouped together without leav- 

 ing gaps; they supply no party-walls. Only 

 flat surfaces, adjusted according to certain 

 rules, can give the desired economy of space 

 and material. The cells therefore will be 

 prisms, of a length calculated by that of the 

 larvae. 



It remains to decide what form of polygon 

 will serve as the base of these prisms. First 

 of all, it is evident that this polygon will be 

 regular, because the capacity of the cells has 

 to be constant. Once the condition obtains 

 that the grouping must be effected without 

 gaps, figures that were not regular would be 

 subject to variation and would give different 

 capacities in one cell and another. Now of 

 the indefinite number of regular polygons only 

 three can be constructed continuously, with- 

 out leaving unoccupied spaces. These three 

 are the equilateral triangle, the square, and 

 the hexagon. Which are we to choose? 

 234 



