The Leaf-cutters 



sides, the real point of the difficulty does not 

 lie there. These rounds, for the most part, 

 fit the mouth of the jar with almost exact 

 precision. When the cell is finished, the Bee 

 flies hundreds of yards away 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 cov^ered? Why, none 

 at all: she has never seen it; she does her 

 work underground, in utter 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, use- 

 less in a work of precision. And yet the disk 

 to be cut out must have a fixed diameter: if 

 it were too large, it would not go in; if too 

 small, it would close badly, it would slip down 

 on the honey and suffocate the egg. How 

 shall it be given its correct dimensions with- 

 out 9. pattern? The Bee does not hesitate for 

 a moment. She cuts out her disk with the 

 same celerity which she would display in de- 

 taching any shapeless lobe which might do 

 for a stopper; and that disk, without further 

 measurement, is of the right size to fit the 

 pot. Let whoso will explain this geometry, 

 which in my opinion is Inexplicable, even 



253 



