The Life of the Spider 



out ovals, how does she manage to cut out 

 rounds ? Can we admit the presence of other 

 wheels in the machinery for the new pattern, 

 so different in shape and size ? However, the 

 real point of the difficulty does not lie there. 

 Those rounds, for the most part, fit the 

 mouth of the bottle with almost exact preci- 

 sion. When the cell is finished, the bee flies 

 hundreds of yards further to make the lid. 

 She arrives at the leaf from which the disk 

 is to be cut. What picture, what recollection 

 has she of the pot to be covered? Why, 

 none at all: she has never seen it; she works 

 underground, in profound darkness! At the 

 utmost, she can have the indications of touch : 

 not actual indications, of course, for the pot 

 is not there, but past indications, ineffective 

 in a work of precision. And yet the disk 

 must be of a fixed diameter: if it were too 

 large, it would not fit in; if too small, it 

 would close badly, it would smother the egg 

 by sliding down on the honey. How shall 

 it be given its correct dimensions without a 

 pattern? The Bee does not hesitate for a 

 moment. She cuts out her disk with the same 

 rapidity which she would display in detach- 

 ing any shapeless lobe just useful for closing; 



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