418 Rev. S. Haughton on the Form of the Cells . 



without reason, He has given the possession of what is useful 

 and conducive to life, by a certain natural providence. 



"Any one may understand this to be so, as well in many 

 other kinds of animals, and more especially in bees. For order, 

 and a certain admirable deference to those who rule in their 

 republic, ambition, moreover, and cleanliness, heap together an 

 abundance of honey ; but their foresight and economy concern- 

 ing its conservation are much more admirable : for holding it 

 for certain, as is just, that they carry back some portion of 

 ambrosia from the gods to choice men, they pour out this, not 

 rashly on the ground, or into wood, or any other unformed and 

 misshapen matter; but collecting from the sweetest flowers 

 that grow in the earth, they form from them most excellent 

 vases as a receptacle for the honey (which the Greeks call Krjpia, 

 and the Latins favi), all indeed, equal, similar, and cohering 

 among themselves, of the hexagon species. Now it is thus 

 evident that they construct these by a certain geometrical fore- 

 sight ; for they consider it fit that all the figures should cohere 

 together and have common sides, lest anything, falling into the 

 intervening spaces, should spoil and corrupt their work. 



" Hence, three rectilinear and ordinate figures can efiect what 

 is proposed — I mean ordinate figures which are equilateral and 

 equiangular, for ordinate and dissimilar figures did not please 

 the bees themselves. Now, equilateral triangles, and squares, 

 and hexagons (neglecting other dissimilar figures filling space) 

 may be placed next each other, so as to have common sides — 

 other ordinate figures cannot; for the space about the same 

 point is filled, either by six equilateral triangles, or by four 

 squares, or by three hexagons; but three pentagons are less 

 than sufficient, and four are more than sufficient to fill the 

 space round a point, neither can three heptagons be established, 

 so as to fill the space round a point*. 



" The same reasoning will apply much more to figures having 

 a greater number of sides. There being, then, three figures, 

 w^hich, of themselves, can fill up the space round a point, viz. 

 the triangle, the square, and the hexagon ; the bees have wisely 

 selected for their structure that which contains most angles, 

 suspecting, indeed, that it could hold more honey than either of 

 the others. 



" The bees, forsooth, know only what is useful to themselves, 

 viz. that the hexagon is greater than the square or triangle, and 

 can hold more honey, an equal quantity of material being em- 

 ployed in the construction of each ; but we, who profess to have 

 more wisdom than the bees, will investigate something even 



* The proofs of these assertions are omitted in this translation. 



