PHYSIOLOGY OF THE BEE. 87 



limited range of vision, being adapted to receive but 

 a very small pencil of rays proceeding from a single 

 point in any object; and as these eyes are immovable, 

 they would afford but very imperfect information bf 

 the position of surrounding objects, were it not for 

 their enormous multiplication, by which a separate eye, 

 so to speak, is provided for each point to be viewed. 

 No two of these, save those upon the opposite sides of 

 the head, which are directed exactly forwards, can form 

 an image of the same point at the same time ; but 

 the combined action of all of them may give to the 

 insect, it may be imagined, as distinct a picture as 

 that we obtain by a very different organisation." We 

 venture to suggest that another reason for the vast 

 multiplication of the numbers of " ocelli " is to enable 

 the insects to see in what would be to us darkness. 

 Nearly all the operations carried on in the interior of 

 the hives are done, during the day-time, in very dim 

 light ; and in the night-time, when work is by no 

 means intermitted, there would, to our eyes, be abso- 

 lute darkness. To the bees, however, the scanty 

 rays received by so many sensitive points may be 

 sufficient to enable them to see with considerable 

 clearness. If the simple enlargement of a single 

 pupil, such as takes place in us on emerging from a 

 strong into a dim light, makes so great a difference 

 in our power of vision a fact with which we are 

 all familiar on going from a well-lighted room into 

 what seems for the first few seconds complete dark- 

 ness we may well believe that the permanent means 

 of entry into the sensorium of an immense number of 

 separate rays may give greatly enlarged powers of 

 seeing scantily illuminated objects. 



