24 HUMBLE CREATURBS. 



With untiring patience and perseverance his mind 

 was directed to the attainment of this end, namely 

 to correct the aberration of light, which caused his 

 lenses to colour and distort the objects under inves- 

 tigation, untU he foimd that, by employing com- 

 pound lenses of varying densities, this evil effect was 

 counteracted ; and now we see that the Creator had, 

 probably before man was brought into existence, con- 

 structed the eye of the Bee on the same principle. 



There is one thought that cannot fail to present 

 itself to the reflecting mind in connexion with this 

 analogy between the eye of the Bee and the achro- 

 matic lens, confirmatory of the great declaration that 

 " God made man in His own image," — Has not man 

 invented, what He no doubt suggested, but not alone 

 through the medium of the external senses ? for man 

 knew nothing of the compound lens in the Bee's 

 eyelet when the idea occurred to him to construct an 

 achromatic lens for his microscope, and yet it is ob- 

 vious that he hit upon one of the most perfect means 

 of attatoing the desired end ! 



A word more regarding the corneal lenses of the 

 Bee. 



It appears to us questionable whether the normal 

 shape of these lenses is hexagonal, or whether this 

 form is not rather a necessity of growth ; that is to 

 say, we think they are normally round, but assume the 

 hexagonal shape during the process of development 

 in consequence of their agglomeration. If this sur- 

 mise be correct, it applies equally to the compound 



