314 



T'mm MMERICSH ®E® JQURNat. 



■•*-*-*-*-*-^*-*-^-^*-^*-^*'^*-' 



at least I hope it may not, for I have 

 no desire to perpetrate a capital 

 offense. 



As to " soaring out of the jurisdic- 

 tion of the court," with due deference, 

 I think that, with proper discrimina- 

 tion, Mr. Clarke will discover an un- 

 fortified point in his position, when he 

 attempts to exercise judgment in a 

 sphere where title might be made a 

 matter of dispute. " Rhadanianthus 

 was not always. ;«>■<." 



Androgynal — 'tis a pretty big word, 

 come to look at it, and requires ten 

 letters to spell it ! but, on review, if 

 there is any indiscretion in its use, as 

 applied in ray article, I have, as yet, 

 been unable to discover it ; and as it is 

 a factor in the English language, I 

 presume its use is free to all ; further- 

 more, if its scope of meaning was 

 fully illustrated, and the deductions 

 that might be drawn therefrom rightly 

 applied, they might supply nourishing 

 food for thought in regard to the 

 phenomena of hibernation, besides, 

 jostling some of the favorite theories 

 of its advocates. 



" We all know that hibernate, in its 

 common unscientific use, means merely 

 to pass the winter." Mr. Clarke says, 

 " We human beings and insects hiber- 

 nate. So do plants and stones." But 

 our scientists tell us that there is 

 another definition applied to hiberna- 

 tion, which describes the specific phys- 

 iological condition of the hiliernating 

 subjects ; and that all in nature, ani- 

 mate or inanimate, are not subject to 

 that condition in cold climates ; al- 

 though the (id may be termed sponta- 

 neous. If Mr. Clarke includes stones 

 in the list of his liibernating subjects, 

 I presume he has an undoubted right 

 so to do ; but I am not prepareil to 

 accept their condition other than that 

 of a suspension of the elements of 

 their composition, which has existed 

 since the subsidence of the Plutonic 

 epoch in the evolution of this planet. 



Mr. Clarke avers that we can arrive 

 at a positive knowledge of the actual 

 hibernal condition, and says, "We can 

 see that." See what ? " Bees form a 

 tight cluster and remain in an almost, 

 if not quite, motionless state." So they 

 do at any time when in repose, whether 

 as a swarm hanging from a limb, 

 secreting wax in the hive, loafing from 

 lack of forage or other causes, or 

 among the combs of the brood-cham- 

 ber in mid-winter. The efl'ect is 

 prominent ; but it is the cause that 

 demands solution. 



During the past winter one of my 

 colonies remained, what might be 

 termed, perfectly quiet for 158 days, 

 and when it flew on April 6, it was, so 

 far as 1 could ascertain, in a most sat^ 

 isfactory condition. Thirty other col- 

 onies were in very nearly the same 



condition. But I do not consider the 

 acts of the above 31 colonies more 

 favorable to a confirmation of the 

 hibernation theory, as set forth by 

 Mr. Clarke, than those of the other 28 

 that had a flight on Feb. 22. 



Mr. Clarke quotes me as saying that 

 "the hive-bee is only physically con- 

 stituted to experience to a certain de- 

 gree the condition of hibernation^ 

 (Italics are miue.) The evasion ex- 

 hibited by Mr. C. in the above quota- 

 tion, seems to be a favorite method 

 with him of substituting his own, for 

 the language of those from whom he 

 difl'ers, in discussion. If I am correct 

 in my recollections, the same spirit 

 crops out in his pen-attacks on other 

 correspondents of the American Bee 

 Journal. 



Had Mr. Clarke quoted correctly, 

 he could have omitted the word hiber- 

 nation in his comments. I used the 

 word coma as a synonym of dormancy, 

 to illustrate the quiescent condition ex- 

 perienced during cold weather, by 

 such animals as scientists term the 

 true hibernating species, viz : the bear, 

 raccoon, etc. If the " hive-bee is only 

 physically constituted to experience to 

 a certain degree the coma (dormancy) 

 to which the brute animals are sub- 

 jected during the hibernal period," it 

 is correct to say that the hive-bee does 

 not hibernate in the accredited scien- 

 tific definition of the term. 



I am ignorant concerning the habits 

 of Provincial red-squirrels ; but the 

 red-squirrels in this vicinity are out at 

 all times, and in all weathers. They 

 hibernate ! certainly. The fiddle pos- 

 sesses a dual capacity, and when the 

 theme is not reconcilable to the com- 

 pass of one string, a "shift" can be 

 made to the other. At the opening of 

 his fifth paragraph, Mr. Clarke quotes 

 me as saying that "no animated 

 organized being ' can become frozen 

 solid, or even liecome sufficiently be- 

 numbed by c-old as to wholly destroy 

 its vital functions and live ;' " and says: 

 "This is not so. The black ant can." 

 Here again Mr. C. molds the phraseol- 

 ogy to suit his purpose. I made use 

 of the adjunctive phrase, "after hav- 

 ing passed the limits of a definite 

 grade of development, etc.," in accord- 

 ance with its explanatory import. 



Observation, and the teachings of 

 those who have made the anatomy of 

 insects a special life-study, prompt me 

 to the belief,that the constituent fluids, 

 the secretory glands, and, in short, 

 the physical organisms of the hive-bee 

 occupy a position in the line of pro- 

 gressive development far in advance 

 of that of the black ant; requiring 

 artificial means to protect existence, 

 where, we are told, the black ant can 

 freeze up in winter, and thaw out in 

 the spring following. 



I have never seen a carp ; but if the 



carp possesses a pneumatic and circu- 

 lating apparatus on a par with those of 

 the hive-bee, it would require conver- 

 sion to convince me that a carp can be 

 frozen-to-death, and be susceptible of 

 rc-animation. 



Again, Mr. C. writes: "Mr. L. 

 says that, ' life without the influence of 

 motion on matter is inadmissible.' " 

 Admission requires proof. If the bear 

 iloes not breatlie, nor change its position 

 while hibernating, I should say that 

 the " flames of life " were extinct. The 

 black ant is motionless when frozen 

 solid, as I have observed while splits 

 ting partially decayed wood in the 

 coldest weather in mid-winter. We 

 often find the ants in a mass of ice in 

 hollow trees, but I am not sure that 

 they ever " come to life" again. 



" Crysalids that freeze solid, thaw 

 out and come to life again," says Mr. 

 Clarke. So will the molecules of many 

 of the vegetaljle species. The stone of 

 the peach germinates more readily by 

 being planted in the fall. The seeds of 

 countless flowering plants freeze, and 

 yet the germ of life is not destroyed. 

 I am not informed that the black-ant 

 can be frozen solid, i. e., that its fluids 

 are susceptible of congealation ! 



I think that Mr. Clarke will be com- 

 pelled to go further than to where 

 " our brethren of the Sunny South 

 who keep bees " reside, to verify his 

 remarks in his closing paragraph. 

 " Bees must have a rest, surely, in the 

 South, as well as in the North." But, 

 when " in the South " means the Torrid 

 Zone, with its " ever blooming flora," 

 can that " rest " be termed hibernation ? 



In conclusion it is noticeable that, in 

 his review of my article, Mr. Clarke 

 skirmishes around allusions that savor 

 of evolution. It seems to me that if 

 the word evolve was substituted for 

 create, in the English language, a 

 huge stumbling block to right thinking 

 would be removed. To talk of creat- J 

 ing, is a continual butting against fact, \ 

 when it is very apparent that every- 

 thing possessing an organism, so to 

 speak, is but the result of evolution — 

 a manifestation of the attributes of 

 one God, one Law, one Element. 



Severe fTlnter aud Backward Spring. 



I can report 59 colonies of flying 

 bees at present, all apparently in good 

 condition ; notwithstanding a severe 

 winter, and a very cold, backward 

 spring. My bee-yard is nearly covered 

 with snow — in some places 1 foot deep. , 

 No pollen has been gathered yet ; with 

 unfavorable prospects of any for a ' 

 week to come. 



Cumberland, Me., April 16, 1888. 



[One article on each side of this dis- 

 cussion is sufficient ; it is now closed 

 with the above article. — Ed.] 



