18 BEHAVIOR OF HONEY BEE IK" POLLEN COLLECTING. 
On the other hand, it is believed by some that the middle legs are 
directly instrumental in filling the baskets. This method is indicated 
in the following quotation from Fleischmann and Zander (1910) 
(translated) : 
The second pair of legs transfer the pollen to the hind legs, where it is 
heaped up in the pollen masses. The tibia of each hind leg is depressed on its 
outer side, and upon the edges of this depression stand two rows of stiff hairs 
which are bent over the groove. The brushes of the middle pair of legs rub 
over these hairs, liberating the pollen, which drops into the baskets. 
A suggestion of the true method is given by Hommell (1906), 
though his statements are somewhat indefinite. After describing 
the method by which pollen is collected, moistened, and passed to 
the middle legs he states that (translated) "the middle legs place 
their loads upon the pollen combs of the hind legs. There the sticky 
pollen is kneaded and is pushed across the pincher (a traverse la 
pince), is broken up into little masses and accumulates within the 
corbicula. In accomplishing this, the legs cross and it is the tarsus 
of the right leg which pushes the pollen across the pincher of the 
left, and reciprocally. The middle legs never function directly in 
loading the baskets, though from time to time their sensitive ex- 
tremities touch the accumulated mass, for the sake of giving assur- 
ance of its position and size." 
The recent valuable papers of Sladen (1911, 1912, a, 6, c* cL and e), 
who was the first to present a true explanation of the function of 
the abdominal scent gland of the bee, give accounts of the process 
by which the pollen baskets are charged, which are in close accord 
with the writer's ideas on this subject. It is a pleasure to be able to 
confirm most of Sladen's observations and conclusions, and weight is 
added to the probable correctness of the two descriptions and in- 
terpretations of this process by the fact that the writer's studies and 
the conclusion based upon them were made prior to the appearance 
of Sladen's papers and quite independent of them. His description 
of the basket-loading process itself is so similar to the writer's own 
that a complete quotation from him is unnecessary. A few differences 
of opinion will, however, be noted while discussing some of the move- 
ments which the process involves. As will later be noted, our ideas 
regarding the question of pollen moistening, collecting, and transfer- 
ence are somewhat different. 
ADDITIONAL DETAILS OF THE BASKET-LOADING PROCESS. 
The point at which pollen enters the basket can best be determined 
by examining the corbicula? of a bee shortly after it has reached a 
flower and before much pollen has been collected. Within each 
pollen basket of such a bee is found a small mass of pollen, which lies 
