178 
WAX AND COMB CONSTRUCTION. 
two minutes. We have not room here for the whole 
history, but we would point out that, even with our 
accurate instruments of the present day, it is impossible 
to measure the angles of such a structure as the cell of 
a bee without liability to error of one or two degrees 
in each angle, since the angle of the cell is nowhere 
sharply defined, and the surfaces are not strictly 
planes. Father Boscowich seems to have been the 
first person to call in question Maraldi^s measure- 
ments, and ‘ supposed that the admeasurement of 
the angles was too nice to be performed, and that 
the coincidence with the theory could only arise 
from his assuming that the angle of inclination of 
the rhomboidal plane was the same with that of 
the hexagon’ (Lord Brougham, Nat, TheoL). Lord 
Brougham ( 15 ), however, says : ‘ I can certainly 
find no irregularity,’ and further, ‘ The nearly quite (in 
reference to Lhuilier’s criticisms, that the conditions 
required by theory and observation “ nearly agree ”) 
is quite incorrect : there is an absolute and perfect 
agreement between theory and observation.’ 
Wyman (17 1) took a number of measurements, 
and says — 
‘ If economy of space and wax is sought, that the form 
of cell should be the one alleged to have been ascertained 
by Maraldi, and which was calculated by Koenig, and by 
hundreds of others since his time. Careful observations, 
however, tend to prove that such a cell is rarely, perhaps 
never, realised. For, while the deviations from the true 
form do not exceed a certain limit, a piece of comb, ten 
cells square, can hardly be found in which one or more 
