THE COMB-BUILDERS 209 
which takes the least possible material to construct 
has received very striking confirmation. 
The story is an old and famous one, but it will 
bear repeating. A great naturalist once put him- 
self to an infinity of trouble in measuring the 
angles formed by the rhombs in a vast number of 
comb-cell bases, and he found that these showed 
remarkable uniformity. It will be clear that the 
hollow pyramid of the cell-bottom will be either 
deep or shailow, according to the shape of the 
three rhombs composing it. The apex of the 
pyramid is formed by the meeting of three equal 
angles, one from each rhomb ; and it is plain that 
this apex will be sharp or blunt, according to 
whether the meeting angles are wide or narrow. 
Putting aside all cells accidentally imperfect, and 
measuring only the most perfect comb, the 
naturalist found that the angles of the rhombs 
were strikingly similar. The two greater angles 
measured almost invariably 109° 28’, and the two 
lesser angles 70° 32’, giving, when added together, 
180°, which is the equivalent of two right- 
angles. 
Another bee-lover scientist, ruminating over 
these figures, was much impressed by them, and de- 
termined to find out the reason why the bee made 
such constant choice of this particular shape of 
rhomb. He therefore conceived the idea of submitt- 
ing the bee’s judgment on this cell-base question 
to an independent authority. Without disclosing 
14 
