THE BEE. 85 



in some of those mysterious forms, the Diatomacese, 

 where the siliceous cases present the perfect honey- 

 comb structure. Again, mathematicians of undoubted 

 ability tell us that the hexagonal cells of the honey- 

 comb exhibit precisely the form that would result 

 from the close contact and adhesion of a number of 

 circular or cylindrical bodies of a soft, flexible sub- 

 stance ; and lastly, an examination of the honeycomb 

 shows us, that where a cell is terminal, that is to say, 

 where another is not added to it, at the terminal 

 side it is not hexagonal, but irregularly round. 



Now it certainly appears to us to be going a little 

 out of our way if we seek to attribute the hexagonal 

 shape of these cells to the result of an instinct in the 

 Bee that transcends the calculating powers of the 

 ablest mathematicians, when we find by accumulated 

 evidence that the natural form assumed by a series 

 of circles when brought into close contact would be 

 that of the cells of a honeycomb ; and not only are 

 the walls of these cells remarkably thin, but, when 

 newly wrought, they are exceedingly ductile and tena- 

 cious*, and consist of two layersf. The appearance 

 of these two layers, when examined with a low micro- 

 scopic power (after cutting away the outer rim of the 

 cell, which is always rather thick and circular), is 

 such as to suggest the idea that the cells themselves 

 are constituted of circles or cylindrical tubes of 



* Kiiby and Spence, p. 276. 



t Kirby and Spence, p. 274, note. From ' Memoirs of the 

 Wemeijan Society,' 



