312 SENSES OF BEES. 



his Physico- theology has observed, when speaking 

 of the eye of the bee and other insects, that "the 

 cornea and optic nerves, being always at one and 

 the same distance, are fitted only to see distantial 

 objects, but not such as are very nigh." This 

 visual orb, this seemingly simple speck, though 

 really complicated piece of mechanism, says DER- 

 HAM, " will be found upon examination to form a 

 curious lattice-work of several thousand hexagonal 

 lenses, each having a separate optic nerve minis- 

 tering to it, and therefore to be considered as a 

 distinct eye*. M. LEEWENHOECK, having properly 

 prepared and placed an eye of this kind betwixt 

 his microscope and a church steeple (299 feet 

 high and 750 distant), saw plainly the steeple in- 

 verted, through every different lens, though each 

 lens was not larger than a needle's point. Yet, 

 doubtless the insect perceives but a single object, 

 and that in an upright position. The hemispheric 

 arrangement of these lenses enables the bee to see 

 accurately in every direction, and without any 

 interval of time or trouble." 



" Not huge Behemoth, not the Whale's vast form, 

 That spouts a torrent, and that breathes a storm, 



The multitude of hexagonal lenses which compose the 

 eye of a bee, make it appear, when viewed through a micro- 

 scope, exactly like honey-comb. 



