380 



NINETEENTH CHAPTER. 



ON THE NATURE AND ORIGIN OF WAX. 



ORIGIN OF WAX ACCORDING TO HUBER — HONEY THE COMPONENT PRINCIPLE 

 OF WAX — THE FANCIFUL CONCEITS OP HUBER — OPINION RELATIVE TO 

 THE NATURE OF WAX, INSERTED IN THE " SPECTACLE DE LA NATURE" — ■ 

 HYPOTHESIS OF JOHN HUNTER— ITS FALSITY — ANALOGY BETWEEN SILK 

 AND WAX AS ELABORATED SUBSTANCES — THE ELEMENTS OF POLLEN DIF- 

 FERENT FROM THOSE OF WAX — THE EXPERIMENTS OF HUBER INCON- 

 CLUSIVE — WAX, ACCORDING TO HUBER, FORMED BY EXUDATION — HYPO- 

 THESIS OF LATREILLE — THE WAX POCKETS OF HUEER — ANALYSIS OF WAX 

 BY MARTIN — OPINION ADVANCED IN THE '' DICTIONNAIRE DES SCIENCES 

 NATUREELES" — EXPERIMENT TO DETERMINE THE FARINA OF PLANTS 

 BEING TAKEN INTO THE SECOND STOMACH OF THE BEE — COMPARISON OF 

 THE DISCOVERY OF HUBER WITH THE HYPOTHF.SIS OF LATREILLE, MAR- 

 TIN, DR. HOWISON, &C. — SCALES OF WAX, ACCORDING TO HUBER, FOUND 

 BETWEEN THE RINGS OF THE ABDOMEN — CONTRADICTIONS OF HUEER — 

 WAX A CRUDE PRODUCTION OF NATURE, CONFIRMED BY MR. KNIGHT — 

 OBJECTIONS TO THAT HYPOTHESIS — HUBER's DESCRIPTION OF THE BEES 

 SECRETING WAX — FESTOONS OF BEES — ERRORS DISSEMINATED BY THE 

 " SOCIETY FOR THE DIFFUSION OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE" — THE BEE A 

 SOLITARY WORKER — DIFFERENT LABOURS OF THE BEES — THE WAX 

 SECRETED EXTERIORLY TO THE HIVE — CONSTRUCTION OF A CELL BY A 

 BEE, ACCORDING TO THE VISION OF HUBER — PROGRESS OF THE FOR- 

 MATION OF A COME — THE STRUCTURE OF A CE LL NEVER Y'ET OBSERVED 

 — SY'STEM ADOPTED BY THE BEES IN THE FORMATION OF A COMB — 

 ENORMOUS COMB MADE BY THE BEES, ACCORDING TO HUBER — GENERAL 

 SIZE OF THE COMBS — THE COMB OF HUBER, A DIRECT IMPOSSIBILITY 

 — AN UNLIMITED SPACE NOT FAVORABLE TO THE WORKS OF THE BEES 

 — RESTRICTION OF THEIR LIMITS, EXEMPLIFIED IN THE FORESTS OF 

 POLAND AND THE UKRAINE — SWARMS, ACCORDING TO HUBER, DO NOT 

 BRING HOME POLLEN — DISPROVED BY' EXPERIENCE — ARGUMENTS IN 

 FAVOUR OF THE FORMATION OF WAX FROM POLLEN — A CELL NEVER 

 ENTIRELY PILLED WITH POLLEN — THE EDGES OF THE COMBS, ACCORD- 

 ING TO HUBER, MADE WITH PROPOLIS — THE COLOUR OF THE COMBS 

 NOT CAUSED BY HEAT— CAUSES OF THE EDGES OF THE COMBS BEING 

 OF A DEEPER COLOUR THAN THE INTERIOR OF THE CELL — HYPOTHESIS 

 OF l'abBE DELLA ROCCA — EXPERIMENTS OF REAUMUR — SINGULAR 

 OPINION ADVANCED BY DUCOUEDIC — INVESTIGATION OF THAT OPIN- 

 ION—ORIGIN OF WAX ACCORDING TO THE ENCYCLOPEDIE METHODIQUE. 



If we investigate the origin of wax as laid down by Huber, 

 and echoed by Kirby and Rennie, we confess that we are 

 struck with surprise, that in the middle of the nineteenth 

 century, any individuals could be found who on the mere 

 undemonstrated authority of another could propagate the 

 preposterous doctrine, at variance with all experience and 

 truth, that honey is the component principle of wax. 



