INGENUITY OF THE WORKERS. 
315 
ences among the ordinary hexagonal cells, though at the first glance 
they all seem alike. They are small for the industrious gleaners, larger 
for the artistic wax-makers, and largest for the males. This size is 
generally obtained by means of a little rounded fragment which is 
deposited in the bottom, and renders it slightly circular,—I was about 
to say pot-bellied ( ventru ). As the house, so the tenant; the male will 
come into the world a squat, obese figure,—predestined to this form by 
that of its cradle. 
Thus, of their own accord, they vary the configuration and extent 
of the cellules. And they vary them yet more, according to the 
obstacles they encounter. If room be denied them, they reduce the 
size of their hexagons in due proportion and with extreme address. 
This fact Huber verified by some ingenious experiments. He bethought 
himself of deranging their operations by placing, instead of wood, a 
plate of glass against the wall of the hive where they were building up 
their cells. From the distance they saw this smooth shining crystal, to 
which nothing could be fixed; and taking their measures accordingly, 
they curved their cake in such a manner that it went past the glass 
and joined on to the wood. But, to carry out the alteration, it became 
necessary to change the diameter of the cells; to enlarge that of the 
convex portion, and diminish that of the concave. A delicate pro¬ 
blem ! and yet it was readily solved by the skilful architects. 
In mid-winter, says Huber again, in their season of inertia, an over¬ 
heavy slab of wax fell away, but was checked en route by the cakes 
beneath. An avalanche seemed imminent! But the bees invented 
buttresses and barriers in strong mastic, which, supporting the fallen 
cake and propping up the sides of the hive, prevented the dangerous 
ruin from dragging down the inner edifice. Then, to prevent the 
occurrence of similar misfortunes, they created some novel architectural 
works in the shape of flying buttresses, bulwarks, pillars, cross-beams, 
and the like. 
Novel! Ay, this is a sufficient refutation of Buffon’s theory. That 
machines or automata could invent, is a thing not easily explicable. 
Yet the sovereign authority of this great dictator of natural history 
would have prevailed, perhaps, over facts and over observation, if, 
