HUBERTS HIVE. n\ 



fidelity with which Burnens, his assistant, watched the 

 bees and reported their movements to Huber. Madame 

 Huber also, who, betrothed to him before his calamity, 

 had remained constant in her affection, assisted in the 

 investigations with great assidui^ during their long and 

 happy wedded life. We quote the following from 

 " Memoirs of Huber," by Professor de CandoUe : — 



"We have seen the blind shine as poets, and distin- 

 guish themselves as philosophers,, musicians, and calcu- 

 lators ; but it was reserved for Huber to give a lustre to 

 his class in the sciences of observation, and on objects so 

 minute that the most clear-sighted observer can scarcely 

 perceive them. The reading of th& works of Reaumur 

 and Bonnet, and the conversation of the latter, directed 

 his curiosity to the history of the bees. His habitual 

 residence in the country inspired him with the desire, 

 first of verifying some facts, then of filling some blanks 

 in their history; but this kind of observation required 

 not only the use of such an instrument as the optician 

 must furnish, but an intelligent assistant, who alone could 

 adjust it to its use. He had then a servant named 

 Francis Burnens, remarkable for his sagacity and for 

 the devotion he bore his master. Huber practised 

 him in the art of observation, directed him to his re- 

 searches by questions adroitly combined, and, aided by 

 the recollections of his youth and by the testimonies of 

 his wife and friends, he rectified the assertions of his 

 assistant, and became enabled to form in his own mind 



