GEOGRAPHY OF THE GENERA. 
91 
work, is entitled ‘The Bee/ and in which Mahomet 
says:—“ The Lord spake by inspiration unto the Bee, 
saying, ‘Provide thee houses in the mountains and in 
the trees [clearly signifying the cavities in rocks and 
hollows of trees, wherein the bees construct their combs], 
and of those materials wherewith men build hives for 
thee; then eat of every kind of fruit, and walk in the 
beaten paths of thy Lord/ There proccedcth from their 
bellies a liquor of various colours, wherein is a medicine 
for men. Verily herein is a sign unto people who con¬ 
sider.” 
It is remarkable that the bee is the only creature that 
Mahomet assumes the Almighty to have directly ad¬ 
dressed. Al-Beidawi, the Arabic commentator upon the 
Koran, whose authority ranks very high, in notes upon 
passages of the preceding extract, says, “The houses 
alluded to are the combs, whose beautiful workmanship 
and admirable contrivance no geometrician can excel.” 
The “ beaten paths of thy Lord,” he says, “ are the ways 
through which, by God’s power, the bitter flowers, 
passing'the bee’s stomach, become honey; or, the 
methods of making honey he has taught her by instinct; 
or else the ready way home from the distant places to 
which that insect flies.” The liquor proceeding from 
their bellies, Al-Beidawi says, “is the honey, the colour 
of which is very different, occasioned by the different 
plants on which the bees feed; some being white, some 
yellow, some red, and some black.” He appends a 
note to where Mahomet says, “ therein is a medicine 
for man,” which contains a curious anecdote. The note 
says, “The same being not only good food, but a useful 
remedy in several distempers. There is a story that a 
man once came to Mahomet, and told him his brother 
