122 Life and Writings of Francis Muber. 



which he denominated the flat hive, permitted him to observe the 

 labors of the community in their minutest details, and to follow each 

 bee in its operations. They were greatly facilitated by the skill of 

 Burnens and by his zeal in the search of truth; he braved, without 

 hesitation, t^ anger of a whole hive, in order to discover the least 

 fact, and he would seize an enormous wasp's nest, in spite of the 

 painful attacks of the whole horde which defended it. We may 

 judge from this of the enthusiasm which his master, (and I here 

 employ the term in the sense, not of the relation of a master to his 

 domestic, but of that of an instructor to his pupil,) we may judge, 

 I, say, of the enthusiasm in favor of truth or fact, with which Huber 

 was able to inspire his agents. 



The publication of these works took place in 1792 in the form of 

 letters to -Ch. Bonnet, and under the title of " JYouvelles Ohserva- 

 tions sur les Abeilles.^^''^ This work made a strong impression on 

 many naturalists, not only from the novelty of the facts, but from 

 their rigorous exactness, and the singular difficulty against which the 

 author had struggled with so much ability. Most of the Academies 

 of Europe, (and especially the Academy of Sciences of Paris) ad- 

 mitted Huber, from time to time, among their associates ; — the poet 

 Delillef celebrated his blindness and his discoveries, and from this 

 time he was placed in the first rank among the most skilful, I was 

 going to say, the most clear sighted observers. 



The activity of his researches was relaxed neither by this early 

 success which might have satisfied his self-love, nor by the embar- 

 rassments which he suffered in consequence of the revolution, noi* 

 even by a separation from his faithful Burnens. Another assistant of 

 course became necessary. His first substitute was his wife, then 

 his SOT), Pierre Huber, who began from that time to acquire a just 

 celebrity in the history of the economy of ants, and various other 

 insects, commenced his apprenticeship as an observer, in assisting his 

 father. It was principally by his assistance that he made new and 

 laborious researches relative to his favorite insects. They form the 



* See the seventh chant in the poem des Trois Bcgnes, which begins with 

 . Enfin de leur hymen savant depositaire, 

 L'aveugle Huber I'a vu par les regards d'autrui, 

 Et siir ce grand probleme un nouveau jour a lui, &c. 

 t One Vol. 8vo. Geneva. Another edition was printed in Paris in 1796 in one 

 volume, 12mo. ; in which a short practical treatise on the management of bees waS 

 anonymously subjoined to the work of Huber. 



