122 INSECT MISCELLANIES. 



their eyes*. The observations of Dr. Evans corro- 

 borate those of Wildman. " We frequently observe 

 bees,'* he says, " flying straight homeward through 

 the trackless air, as if in full view of the hive ; then 

 running their heads against it, and seeming to feel 

 their way to the door, with their antennae, as if totally 

 blind f." The experiments of Sir C. S. Mackenzie 

 support the same doctrine, for he remarked the im- 

 perfect vision of bees and how much they are some- 

 times puzzled to find their way, if the hives were re- 

 moved two or three yards from the place where they 

 usually stood ; and he found that, for the first day or 

 so, they did not venture to fly to a distance, till they 

 had visited and recognised neighbouring objects J. 



The author of " The Pleasures of Memory," upon 

 the authority of Prevost, adopts the notion of bees 

 being near-sighted : 



" Hark \ the bee winds her small but mellow horn, 

 Blithe to salute the sunny smile of morn. 

 O'er thymy downs she bends her busy course, 

 And many a stream allures her to its source. 

 'Tis noon, 'tis night. That eye, so finely wrought 

 Beyond the search of sense, the soar of thought, 

 Now vainly asks the scenes she left behind ; 

 Its orb so full, its vision so confined ! 

 Who guides the patient pilgrim to her cell ? 

 Who bids her soul with conscious triumph swell ? 

 With conscious truth retrace the mazy clue 

 Of varied scents that charm'd her as she flew ? 

 Hail ! Memory, hail ! thy universal reign 

 Guards the least link of being's glorious chain." 



But unfortunately for this poetical fancy, it does 

 not accord with the facts; for independently of 



* The Honey-Bee, p. 311. 



t The Bees, a Poem. 

 J Bevan on the Honey-Bee, p, 314, 



