290 MENTAL FACULTIES sec. 



external wall of some of the outermost cells last commenced 

 is still wanting. The floor of the cells here is as thin as else- 

 where. Evidently the bees build up this wall in its proper 

 shape, and do not produce it by pressure. Similarly the con- 

 struction of the half-cells which the bees begin a comb with, 

 those which attach the comb to its surface of suspension, is 

 inexplicable on this view. For these half-cells resemble cells 

 divided longitudinally, which alternate with entire cells. It is 

 self-evident that only by this means can a foundation be made 

 from which to proceed with the construction of six-sided cells 

 according to the regular plan. Does the construction of this 

 commencement of the comb, which consists of cells different 

 from those of the rest of the comb, depend upon instinct? In 

 such cases it has been usual to talk of variations, of various 

 directions of instinct, and E. v. Hartmann has assumed this 

 explanation for the present case.-^ It is indeed obvious that in 

 this way instincts in various directions may arise in response 

 to definite and persistent external requirements. But how 

 can we explain by such definitely-directed instincts the fact 

 that the bees, when in the course of a comb of worker-cells they 

 wish to build the much wider drone-cells, make each succeed- 

 ing row of cells somewhat wider till they have finally attained 

 to the size of the drone-cells ? The art of the performance 

 depends of course in this case upon instinct, but such a 

 gradual change, which has to be arranged according to the 

 external conditions, seems to me distinctly to imply reflection 

 also, like so many other facts in the mental life of bees which 

 are usually lightly described as instinct. 



That bees really exercise even a high degree of reflection in 

 building their combs is shown most completely by the follow- 

 ing observations and experiments of F. Huber : Once the bees 



^ Eduard v. Hartmann, I)as Unhevmsste vom Standpunkt der Physiologie und 

 Descendenztheorie, second edition, Berlin, 1877, p. 189. Hartmann calls such 

 instincts poljTiiorphous, but he also admits the importance of reflection in appar- 

 ently instinctive action, op. cit. p. 200. 



