in the mode in which they construct their cells. All the wasps which
I have hitherto described have their tiers of cells single: now, the
honeycomb is invariably double. And, moreover, whilst all these wasps
and hornets arrange their cells horizontally, the bee arranges its
comb vertically.

I think it needless to enter into very minute descriptions of the
honeycomb, as all my readers are doubtless perfectly familiar with
its appearance. Each cell, like that made by the wasp, is hexagonal,
and the cells are put together in a manner which secures the greatest
strength for the least possible material. Kirby and Spence state that
"Maraldi found that the great angles were generally 10 degrees 28
minutes, and the smaller ones 70 degrees 32 minutes: and M König, an
eminent mathematician, calculated that they ought to be 109 degrees
26 minutes, and 70 degrees 34 minutes, to obtain the greatest strength
with any given amount of material." Lord Brougham states that he has
discovered that the bee is right and the mathematician was wrong, and
that other mathematicians with whom he has communicated agree with
him, and have detected the source of the error.--_Instinct and
Reason._

* * * * *

DISASTERS of life, like convulsions of the earth, lay bare the primary
strata of human nature: they expose to us elements we might forget,
or suppose to be transmuted by the alchemy of civilization. In this
respect they are, like those geological expositions, useful lessons
and mementoes to the lawmaker.

* * * * *