tense degree. Life is here at a white heat — pur- 

 poseful, Anglo-Saxon ; yet it appears to move with- 

 out fridrion. Occasionally a bee visits the meek- 

 looking pistillate shrub near by, which patiently 

 waits while the buzz and din continue uninter- 

 rupted across the path. 



It is always a mystery just how the honey-bee 

 transfers the pollen to the pollen-basket — even in 

 view of the explanation. It appears to be scraped 

 from one leg to the other, and gradually shifted 

 from fore to aft by a dexterous process until lodged 

 in the proper place, the bee remaining all the 

 time on the wing so that the legs are moved with 

 perfedt freedom. Finally it is stowed more neatly 

 and compacftly than any pack-mule's load, and the 

 panniers are good to see, rich and yellow as pump- 

 kins glistening in the corn field. Doubtless the 

 bee is careful to keep the balance and not put 

 more in one basket than in the other. Since pollen- 

 grains are of distindt and definite shapes in differ- 

 ent plants, is it not possible that the inseft, from 

 its near point of view, detedts these differences, and 

 in place of so much indistinguishable dust, finds 

 itself handling minute cubes, spheres and variously 

 shaped blocks ? 



79 



