Rev. S, Haughton on the Cells of the Wasp and Bee. 415 
EXPLANATION OF PLATE XI, 
Fig. \. Acantholeberis curcirostris (Miiller), 5 . 
Fig. 2. Anterior antenna of the same species. 
Fig. 3. Portion of the terminal half of the seta attached to the first joint 
of the lower branch of the posterior antennas; greatly magnified. 
Fig. 4. Portion of the terminal half of the seta attached to the second 
joint of the lower branch of the posterior antennae, greatly en- 
larged. 
Fig. 5. Abdominal claws. 
Fig. 6. Acantholeberis sordida (Lievin), ? . 
Fig. 7. Abdomen of the same species. 
Fig. 8. Setae from the ventral margin of the carapace. 
Fig. 9. Setae from the posteroventod angle of the carapace. 
XLV. — On the Form of the Cells made by various Wasps and hy 
the Honey Bee ; with an Appendix on the Origin of Species. 
By the Rev. Samuel Haughton*, Fellow of Trinity College, 
Dublin. 
The geometrical form affected by the cells of various kinds of 
wasps and bees has attracted the attention, and called forth the 
speculations, of naturalists and geometers from the earliest 
periods. By one class of writers the geometrical properties of 
these cells have been used as proofs, not so much of the skill 
and instinct of the insects as of the wisdom and intelligence of 
their Creator ; whde, by the opposite class of writers, these same 
geometrical properties of the cells are alleged as a suflficient 
cause for the production of the insects that make them, from 
the advantages which these forms of cells are supposed to possess 
over other forms — advantages said to be so important as to de- 
cide the battle of life in favour of the insects that adopt the 
geometrical plan of making their cells. 
I have for a long time felt convinced that both parties in this 
controversy are in error, as men generally are when they attempt 
to speculate on the reasons for the existence of things ; and that 
the properties of the cells are only the necessary consequence of 
their geometrical form, which form itself is the necessary con- 
sequence of mechanical conditions totally unconnected with 
design, and incapable of rendering an account of the origin of 
the insects that make the cells. 
The geometrical cell of the wasps and bees that I have had an 
opportunity of examining may be dinded into three classes. 
1st. Hexagonal cells formed of adjoining pyramidal figufes, 
with slightly curved axes, not terminating in a point, but in a 
rounded extremity. 
* Read before the Natural History Society of Dublin, November 21, 
1863. [Reprinted from a separate pamphlet by permission of the author.] 
416 Rev. S. Haughton on the Form of the Cells. 
The British tree-wasp forms its pupa-cells in this manner, and, 
in consequence of the pyramidal form of the hexagonal cells, 
the comb opens out on the lower side, so as to present a larger 
surface than on the upper side. 
2nd. Hexagonal cells formed of adjoining prismatic figures, 
with rectilinear axes, terminated by a truncated plane, at right 
angles to the axes of the prisms. 
These cells are found in wasps' nests from St. Lucia, in the 
West Indies, and at Graham's Town, in South Africa, which 
were placed at my disposal for this investigation by Mr. Robert 
J. Montgomery. 
3rd. Hexagonal cells formed of adjoining prismatic figures, 
with rectilinear axes, terminated by three faces of a rhombic 
dodecahedron, which three faces also form each one-third of 
the termination of a similar set of adjoining hexagonal prismatic 
cells, placed end to end behind the first set of prisms. 
This double comb is produced by the well-known form of the 
cells of the honey-bee. 
All these varieties of cells may be accounted for, simply by 
the mechanical pressure of the insects against each other during 
the formation of the cell. In consequence of the instinct that 
compels them to work with reference to a plane, and of the 
cylindrical form of the insects' bodies, the cells must be hexa- 
gons ; and in consequence of the instinct that induces the bees 
to form double combs, the mutual pressure of their heads 
against each other compels the bottom of the cell to assume the 
form of the rhombic dodecahedron. If we could imagine spherical 
insects endowed with the instinct of working from a point and 
not a plane, their cells would cease to affect the forms of the 
hexagon and rhombic dodecahedron, and would imitate the 
totally different form of the pentagonal dodecahedron — instances 
of which may be seen in the bubbles produced in the froth of an 
organic solution, and in the shapes of the elementary cells of 
vegetables, equally restricted in their growth in every direction — ■ 
and also in the pentagonal faces assumed by leaden bullets made 
to fill completely the inside of a hollow shell, and then dis- 
charged against a bank of earth, or a wall, from a mortar. 
On this subject, I cannot do better than quote the words of 
Ruffon, who was the first person that put forward a rational 
theory of the shape of the cells of bees. The passage which I 
quote may be found in his * Histoire Naturelle,' tom. iv. p. 99 : — 
"Dirai-je encore un mot; ces cellules des abeilles, ces hexa- 
gones, tant vantes, tant admires, me fournissent une preuve de 
plus centre I'enthousiasme et I'admiration : cette figure, toute 
geometrique et toute reguliere qu'elle nous paroit, et qu'elle est 
en effet dans la speculation, n'est ici qu'un resultat mecanique 
made by various Wasps and by the Honey-Bee. 417 
et assez imparfait qui se trouve souvent dans la nature^ et que 
Pon remarque meme dans ses productions les plus brutes ; les 
cristaux et plusieurs autres pierres, quelques sels, &c., prennent 
constamment cette figure dans leur formation. Qu^on observe 
les petites ecailles de la peau d'une roussette, on verra qu^elles 
sont hexagones, parce que chaque ecaille croissant en meme 
temps se fait obstacle^ et tend a occuper le plus d'espace qu'il 
est possible dans un espace donne : on voit ces memes hexa- 
gones dans le second estomac des animaux ruminans, on les 
trouve dans les graines, dans leurs capsules, dans certaines 
fleurs, &c. Qu^on remplisse un vaisseau de pois, on plutot de 
quelque autre graine cylindrique, et qu^on le ferme exactement 
apres y avoir verse autant d'eau que les inter^^alles qui restent 
entre ces graines peuvent en recevoir ; qu^on fasse bouillir cette 
eau, tous ces cylindres deviendront de colonnes a six pans. On 
en voit clairement la raison, qui est purement mecanique; 
chaque graine, dont la figure est cylindrique, tend par son ren- 
flement a occuper le plus d'espace possible dans un espace 
donne, elles deviennent done toutes necessairement hexagones 
par la compression reciproque. Chaque abeille cherche a 
occuper de meme le plus d'espace possible dans un espace 
donne, il est done necessaire aussi puisque le coi'ps des abeilles 
est cyhndrique, que leurs cellules soient hexagones, — par la 
meme raison des obstacles reciproques. On donne plus d'esprit 
aux mouches dont les ouvrages sont les plus reguhers; les 
abeilles sont, dit-on, plus ingenieuses que les guepes, que les 
frelons, &c., qui savent aussi I'architecture, mais dont les con- 
structions sont plus grossieres et plus iiTcgulieres que celles des 
abeilles : on ne veut pas voii", ou Ton ne se doute pas que cette 
regularite, plus ou moins grande, depend uniquement du 
nombre et de la figure, et nullement de I'intelligence de ces 
petites betes ; plus elles sont nombreuses, plus il y a des forces 
qui agissent egalement et qui s'opposent de meme, plus il y a 
par consequent de contrainte mecanique, de regularite forcee, 
et de perfection apparente dans leurs productions." — Bvffon. 
The opinions of the older writers, especially of mathematicians, 
on this subject, differ widely from those advanced by Buffon. 
I shall here translate some of the most important of the pas- 
sages bearing on this point. 
The famous Pappus, of Alexandria, in the Introduction to 
the Fifth Book of his Mathematical Collections, says : — 
" God has imparted to men, indeed, the best and most perfect 
knowledge of wisdom and discipline ; and has assigned to some 
animals, devoid of reason, a certain portion. To men, there- 
fore, as making use of reason. He has permitted that they should 
do all things by reason and demonstration ; but to other animals 
418 Rev. S. Haughton on the Form of the Cells . 
without reason, He has given the possession of what is useful 
and conducive to life, by a certain natural providence. 
"Any one may understand this to be so, as well in many 
other kinds of animals, and more especially in bees. For order, 
and a certain admirable deference to those who rule in their 
republic, ambition, moreover, and cleanliness, heap together an 
abundance of honey ; but their foresight and economy concern- 
ing its conservation are much more admirable : for holding it 
for certain, as is just, that they carry back some portion of 
ambrosia from the gods to choice men, they pour out this, not 
rashly on the ground, or into wood, or any other unformed and 
misshapen matter; but collecting from the sweetest flowers 
that grow in the earth, they form from them most excellent 
vases as a receptacle for the honey (which the Greeks call Krjpia, 
and the Latins favi), all indeed, equal, similar, and cohering 
among themselves, of the hexagon species. Now it is thus 
evident that they construct these by a certain geometrical fore- 
sight ; for they consider it fit that all the figures should cohere 
together and have common sides, lest anything, falling into the 
intervening spaces, should spoil and corrupt their work. 
" Hence, three rectilinear and ordinate figures can efiect what 
is proposed — I mean ordinate figures which are equilateral and 
equiangular, for ordinate and dissimilar figures did not please 
the bees themselves. Now, equilateral triangles, and squares, 
and hexagons (neglecting other dissimilar figures filling space) 
may be placed next each other, so as to have common sides — 
other ordinate figures cannot; for the space about the same 
point is filled, either by six equilateral triangles, or by four 
squares, or by three hexagons; but three pentagons are less 
than sufficient, and four are more than sufficient to fill the 
space round a point, neither can three heptagons be established, 
so as to fill the space round a point*. 
" The same reasoning will apply much more to figures having 
a greater number of sides. There being, then, three figures, 
w^hich, of themselves, can fill up the space round a point, viz. 
the triangle, the square, and the hexagon ; the bees have wisely 
selected for their structure that which contains most angles, 
suspecting, indeed, that it could hold more honey than either of 
the others. 
" The bees, forsooth, know only what is useful to themselves, 
viz. that the hexagon is greater than the square or triangle, and 
can hold more honey, an equal quantity of material being em- 
ployed in the construction of each ; but we, who profess to have 
more wisdom than the bees, will investigate something even 
* The proofs of these assertions are omitted in this translation. 
made by various Wasps and by the Honey -Bee. 419 
more remarkable, viz. that, of plane figures, which are equi- 
lateral and equiangular, and have equal perimeters, that is 
always the greatest which consists of most angles, and the circle 
is the greatest of all, pro\'ided it be included in a perimeter 
equal to theirs." — Pappus. 
In 1712, Maraldi published, in the 'Memoires de FAcademie 
des Sciences, Paris,' 1712, p. 299, a remarkable paper, in which 
is investigated, for the first time, the terminal planes of the 
bees' cell, which are now well known to be formed of the faces 
of the rhombic dodecahedron. He appears to have believed 
that the object of having lozenges of the same form, as termi- 
nating planes, was to enable the bees to carry in their mind the 
idea of one geometrical form only, in addition to their original 
idea of the hexagon. The angles of the lozenge are found by 
him to be 110=^ and 70°, by observation; and 109^ 28' and 
70° 32' by calculation. He gives, also, the following mean 
measurements of the cells : — In a foot long of comb there are 
from 60 to 66 cells, about two lines for each cell, and the depth 
of the cell is five lines. 
Reaumur appears to have been the first who introduced the 
fantastic idea of economy of wax, as the motive cause of the 
peculiar shape of the terminating planes, and, not being a geo- 
meter, he obtained the assistance of Konig to calculate the 
angle of the lozenge which should give the least surface with a 
given volume. Konig determined this angle at 109° 26', agree- 
ing with Maraldi within two minutes. 
MacLaurin published, in the 'Philosophical Transactions,' 
1743, p. 565, an elaborate geometrical paper on the subject, in 
which he proves that the tangent of the angle in question is the 
square root of 2, and that it is therefore equal to 109° 28' 16"; 
and he computes the saving of wax as " almost one-fourth part 
of the pains and expense of wax they bestow, above what was 
necessary for completing the parallelogram side of the cells." 
L'HuUier, in 1781, published, in the ' Berlin Memoirs,' p. 277, 
an elaborate discussion of the entire problem, in which he 
arrived at the following results, already found by MacLamin's 
geometrical method : — 
a. That the economy of wax is less than one-fifth of what 
would make a flat base. 
b. That the economy of wax, referred to the total expenditure, 
is JfSt, so that the bees can make fifty-one cells, instead of fifty, 
by the adoption of the rhombic dodecahedron. 
He does not share, however, in the enthusiasm of the natu- 
ralists, but maintains and proves that mathematicians could 
make cells, of the same form as those of the bees, which, instead 
of using only a minimum of wax^ would use the minimum mini- 
420 Rev. S. Haughton on the Origin of Species. 
morum, so that five cells could be made of less wax than that 
which now makes only four, instead of fifty-one out of fifty. 
Notwithstanding this conclusive decision in favour of the 
mathematicians, the advocates of final cause, and those who 
maintain that economy of wax can create a new species, have 
both persisted in using the bees' cell in illustration of their re- 
spective theories, with a pertinacity that proves the persistent 
vitality of an exploded theory. In illustration of this remark- 
able tendency of false theories to reproduce themselves, I shall 
here add, as an appendix to my account of the form of the 
wasps' and bees' cells, some remarks on the origin of species, 
the substance of which originally appeared in the ' Natural His- 
tory Review ' of 1860. 
Appendix on the Origin of Species. 
The active and restless mind of man has never been content 
with the knowledge of the present, but has always sought to 
know the future and the past. The guesses of the ancients as 
to the future of man are amongst the most interesting and, at 
the same time, the most puerile of their philosophical specula- 
tions. The reader of the Tusculan Disputations rises from his 
task, charmed by the style of the writer, but thankful that a 
certain revelation of the future renders him immeasurably su- 
perior in knowledge to the weavers of these pleasant webs of 
fiction ; and though he admires the skill of the ingenious sophists 
who live again and dispute in the pages of Cicero, he would not 
for an instant exchange his own position for theirs. 
The moderns have resolved, by their speculations on the past, 
to show that in ingenuity and oddness of conceit, and, probably, 
also in wideness from the truth, they are in no respect inferior 
to the ancients. The future being shut out from us, we are re- 
solved to try what we can effect, in proof of our versatility of 
imagination, by guessing at the history of the past. 
To establish a character for subtlety and skill, in drawing 
large conclusions on this subject from slender premises, the first 
requisite is ignorance of what other speculators have attempted 
before us in the same field ; and the second is, a firm confidence 
in our own special theory. Neither of these requisites can be 
considered wanting in those who are engaged in the task of 
reproducing Lamarck's theory of organic life, either as alto- 
gether new, or with but a tattered and threadbare cloak thrown 
over its original nakedness. 
The sciences of geology and political economy are mainly 
answerable for the revival of these exploded and forgotten 
fancies, — geology, in supplying the lost history of organic life, 
which could never be studied profoundly from the creatures 
Rev. S. Haughton on the Origin of Species. 421 
living at any given time ; and political economy, in furnishing, 
from its mean and sordid motives, a ^lalthusiau force, supposed 
to be sufficient to supply the wants of previous theories. 
One of the earliest speculators on the origin of the diversified 
forms of life we see around us, and class as varieties, species, 
and genera, was Buffon, who published in 1766* his theory of 
the derivation of all mammal forms by degradation, from fifteen 
primary and perfect types, and nine special or isolated species. 
This theory of ^i,oyeve(Tt<i by degradation, although now 
superseded by the theory of progression, has much to l)e said 
in its favour, and derives additional importance from the facts 
of the history of life made known since Buffon's time, by the 
science of geology. The principal of these additional facts are, 
the degradation of fishes from their first introduction in the Old 
Bed Sandstone period to the present day; the corresponding 
degradation of the Cephalopods, and, though in a somewhat 
less degree, of the Beptiles. 
Some of the classes given by Buffbn are as old as the time of 
jMoses, who defines with accuracy the class Buminantia, distin- 
guishing it from the Pachydermata and Bodentia, in his classifi- 
cation of "clean" and "unclean" beastsf. 
"Whatever may be thought by the more enlightened moderns 
of the merits of this classification of mammals, Bufibn certainly 
agrees with them in one respect : he takes the non-reality of 
species as the starting-point of his theoiy, and by a continued 
degradation downwards, developes all the varieties of life we see 
on the surface of the globe. 
To those who love to dwell upon the past, this theoiy of 
degradation will aflford solace and consolation in the troubles of 
the present, as they can reflect upon how good and excellent 
their ancestors were, and congratulate each other upon their 
superiority to those that will come after them. Every system 
of philosophy provides its followers with a *' solatium doloris; " 
the degradationists find it in the contemplation of the past, and 
the progressionists in the prospect of the future ; to those who 
are contented with the present, and deny our knowledge of the 
past or future, both theories appear as the idle dreams of child- 
hood, the awakening from which will disclose a reality totally 
different from the troubled fancies of the night. 
Lamarck is the father of the progressionists ; and of the many 
who quote his name as an authority in support of their systems, 
or express their disapproval of his doctrine, few have taken the 
trouble to understand his theory or trace it to its origin. It is 
apparently founded on the confusion of species, like that of 
Buffon ; but there is in reality an arriere-pensee, like an unseen 
* Histoire Naturelle, torn. xiv. t Leviticus, jci. 2-8. 
422 Rev. S. Haughton on the Origin of Species. 
presence, which corrupts his reasoning, and discloses the motive 
force of his entire system. This hidden spring of action and 
theorizing is a profound and, as many think, a well-founded con- 
tempt for humanity, which pervades his writings as thoroughly 
as it does the " Voyage to the Houyhnhnms." Lamarck was too 
quick-witted and acute an observer, however deficient he may 
have been as a reasoner, to have believed his own theory, the 
real mainspring of which is the desire to degrade man into an 
intelligent baboon or Yahoo ; what difference is there in a name ! 
In his desire to do so, he overlooks every fact at variance with 
his foregone conclusion, and writes of mankind with a virulence 
which, though devoid of the wit of Swift, springs from the same 
profound and unalterable conviction of the worthlessness of the 
creature he describes : — 
" Si Newton, Bacon, Montesquieu, Voltaire, et tant d'autres 
hommes ont hoaore I'espece humaine par P^tendue de leur 
intelligence et de leur genie, combien ne la rapprochent pas de 
Panimal cette quantity d^hommes bruts, ignorans, en proie aux 
prejuges les plus absurdes, et constamment asservis par leurs 
habitudes, qui cependant composent la masse principale chez 
toutes les nations ? "* 
Lamarck's contempt for his species is again shown in the 
strange list of resemblances he selects for his comparison between 
man and the chimpanzee — a comparison fully as degrading as 
Swift's mock imitation of a naturalist's description of a Yahoo. 
Lamarck's theory consists in the assertion of the following 
laws, six in number, which he dignifies with the title of Laws of 
Nature : — 
I. Law of Specialization of Function, by which a function at 
first general, or belonging to the whole body, is determined to 
a particular organ. 
IL Law of Nutrition producing Death by the forced inequality 
between the materials fixed by assimilation and removed by 
excretion. This law is intended to account for death, which is 
a puzzle to the naturalists. 
in. Law of Movement of Complex Fluids in Canals. This 
law I profess my inability to understand. In the statement of 
it, Lamarck, who, like most naturalists, is unacquainted with 
physics, and untrained in the severe discipline of mathematical 
reasoning, attributes properties to fluids in motion which must 
be considered by lookers-on as little short of miraculous. 
IV. Law of Change of Composition of Fluids in Circulation. 
This law is as obscure, and as miraculous in its results, as the 
* Recherches sur I'Organisation des Corps Vivans, p. 127. Paris, 
27 Floreal, An X. 
Rev. S. Haughton on the Origin of Species. 423 
preceding. Natural religion, however, would appear to consider 
herself entitled to her miracles, as well as revealed religion. 
V. Organic Forms, acquired under the presiding influence of ex- 
ternal circumstances, are transmitted by Generation. This law in- 
volves the famous Law of Natural Selection, attributed within 
the last few months to Mr. Darwin. 
VI. By the concurrence of the preceding Laws, of a long lapse of 
time, and an almost inconceivable diversity of surrounding circum- 
stances, all Species have been formed in succession. Lamarck^s 
theory is essentially one of progression, and is totally opposed 
to that of BuflFon, which is one of degradation : yet it is 
remarkable that they both rest upon the same foundation — the 
assumed non-reality of species. Like his successors in the Pro- 
gression theor}', Lamarck spent his life in the establishment of 
the reality of species ; and it is a humiliating reflection, that, at 
the close of it, he believed himself to have lived under a delusion. 
Let us hear his confession : — 
" J^ai long-temps pense qu^il y avait des Especes constantes 
dans la nature, et qu'elles etoient constituees par les individus 
qui appartiennent a chacune d'elles. Maintenant je suis con- 
vaincu que j^etois dans I'erreur a cet egard, et qu^il n'y a reelle- 
ment dans la nature que des individus." 
What must we think of the principles that guide the specula- 
tions of naturalists, when we find minds like those of Buffon and 
Lamarck drawing opposite conclusions from the same premises ? 
It matters little in this question whether the premises be true 
or false, whether species be truly distinct or not ; our surprise 
at the logic of the naturalists is natural, and must border on a 
courteous contempt. 
The English revival of Lamarckianism, or " Progress in 
Organic Life," by Mr. Darwin, involves no idea in advance of 
those contained in Lamarck's six laws, but gives a greater pro- 
minence to the law of Continuation of Peculiarities by Genera- 
tion, by the assertion that such peculiarities, and such only, as 
are useful to the creature, in its struggle for existence, will 
become hereditary — the reason being, that animals provided with 
such peculiarities will have the advantage in the battle of life 
over their fellows in the competition for food, females, and other 
necessaries for the preservation of the individual and species. 
This notable argument is borrowed from Malthus's doctrine of 
population, and will, no doubt, find acceptance with those 
political economists and pseudo-philosophers who reduce all the 
laws of action and human thought habitually to the lowest and 
most sordid motives. It is dignified with the title of a Law of 
Nature, called the Law of Natural Selection, and forms the only 
bond fide addition made by Darwin to Lamarck's famous 
424 Rev. S. Haughton on the Origin of Species. 
theory of Progression^ in whicli^ however, it is implicitly in- 
volved. 
I make no account of Mr. Darwin's geological additions to 
Lamarck, for two reasons. In the first place, the laws of geo- 
graphical distribution explained by geological change are not ad 
rem, and were previously fully treated of by BufFon and Forbes ; 
and in the second place, Mr. Darwin admits that the facts of 
geology are opposed to his (Lamarck's) theory; and they are 
pleasantly alluded to as the geological difficulty ! So far as the 
history of life on the globe indicates a progression, Lamarck is 
entitled to the benefit of it — as in the case of mammals and 
plants, — but certainly not to the exclusion of the facts in favour 
of degradation — such as the case of Fishes, Reptiles, and Cepha- 
lopods, which must be credited to the account of Bufibn and his 
followers. 
Lamarck says distinctly — " Ce ne sont pas les organes, c'est- 
a-dire, la nature et la forme des parties du corps d'un animal, qui 
ont donne lieu a ses habitudes et a ses facultes particulieres ; 
mais ce sont au contraire ses habitudes, sa maniere de vivre, et 
les circonstances dans lesquelles se sont rencontres les individus 
dont il provient, qui ont avec le temps coustitue la forme de son 
corps, le nombre et I'etat de ses organes, enfin les facultes dont 
il jouit." 
This statement implies all that is essential in Mr. Darwin's 
" law of Natural Selection," which, by its prominence, fills in 
his system the place occupied by the law of Imitation in the 
original theory of Lamarck. This difference arises from the 
difterence of the points of view of the Frenchman and the 
Englishman — a difference characteristic of the two races. The 
Frenchman, with the vivacity and perception of the ridiculous 
belonging to his nation, seizes upon the quality most likely to 
elevate a monkey into a man, selects the faculty of imitation, 
and, with a bitter satire, endows his monkey with the human 
desire to better his condition, and lift himself above his brother 
chatterers. He thus magnifies the monkey power of imita- 
tion — which is truly wonderful, and extends to the most extra- 
ordinary actions — into the position of a law of nature, sufficient 
to create man ! The Englishman, on the other hand, firmly 
believes his theory, and, with a confident faith in the power of 
food and comfort, equally characteristic of his country, elevates 
the desire to supply the stomach into a law of sufficient force to 
convert an eel into an elephant, or an oyster into an orang- 
outan. 
Other theorists, whose name is legion, have printed their 
crude fancies, and have met with numerous readers among the 
young and inexperienced, the sciolists of science. It is not to 
Rev. S. Haughton on the Origin of Species. 425 
be supposed that a public which accepted mesmerism and table- 
turning could judge with accuracy of the pretensions of loose 
and ill-reasoned speculations on the origin of life. It has rained, 
hailed, and poured theories of life — religious, philosophical, and 
pseudoscientific — with a marvellous rapidity within the last 
few years. Some theorists have started from the nebular hypo- 
thesis of Laplace ; others have speculated on the results of 
superfoetation ; and others on the brilliant and seductive theory 
of the correlation of physical forces ; but they may all be classed 
as, knowingly or not, the followers of Lamarck. Some have 
taught that all the planets, being composed of the same mineral 
constituents as the earth, must produce in succession the same 
organic phenomena, and weary the reader with the idea of the 
same Pterodactyles and Cetacea, the same monads and men, ap- 
pearing on all the globes that circle round the sun ! Others 
have called to mind the loss of heat of our planet, and, by the 
correlation of forces, have reproduced it in the increasing intelli- 
gence of the successive forms of life that have peopled our 
globe ! ! In a word, there is no folly that human fancy can 
devise, when truth has ceased to be of primary importance, and 
right reason and sound logic have been discarded, that has not 
been produced and preached as a new revelation. Neither have 
the disciples of Lamarck wanted the martyr spirit, i. e. the dis- 
position to make martyrs of others, which is generally supposed 
to be essential to the apostles of a new faith. They have courted 
persecution, and reviled their opponents with bitter words, and 
with such weapons as are permitted by the free civilization 
under which we live. They argue, with a logic worthy of their 
system, that because truth has been often in a minority, there- 
fore minorities and theories in a minority must necessarily be 
true. 
It is curious to observe the natural instinct by which Lamarck 
and his followers appeal from the judgment of their peers to the 
young, the enthusiastic, and the inexperienced. I shall quote 
but two instances of this necessary instinct of self-preservation : — 
" Que de reflexions ces considerations pourront faire naitre 
dans I'esprit du petit nombre de ceux qui en sont susceptibles et 
qui sont lents a prononcer ! les autres auront bientot fait k cet 
egard: ils trancheront sans examen, et decideront d'apres ce 
qui leur conviendra le mieux, ou selon la portee de leurs con- 
ceptions." — Lamarck, p. 123. 
" I by no means expect to convince experienced naturalists, 
whose minds are stocked with a multitude of facts, all viewed, 
during a long course of years, from a point of view directly 
opposite to mine ; but I look with confidence to the 
future, to young and rising naturalists, who will be able to view 
Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol, xi. 28 
426 Rev. S. Haughton on the Origin of Species. 
both sides of the question with impartiahty." — Darwin's Origin 
of Species, pp. 481-83. 
The theories of ^Loyevea-L^, already described, and many others, 
are based upon the following three unwarrantable assumptions, 
the denial of which, until proved, brings to the ground the 
entire structure, like a child's house of cards — 
I. The indefinite variation of species continuously in the one 
direction. 
II. That the causes of variation assigned, viz. cross-breeding 
(Buffon), imitation (Lamarck), and natural advantage in the 
struggle for existence (Darwin), are sufficient to account for the 
effects asserted to be produced. 
III. That succession implies causation. 
On each of these a few words of explanation are necessary. 
I. The indefinite variation of species continuously in the one 
direction. 
This has been expressed by some Lamarckians as a state 
of unstable equilibrium of nature ; but should we assume the 
existence of a law which is contrary to all we know of every 
other department of nature ? If we must have a mechanical 
analogy to fix our ideas, nature might be better compared to a 
condition of dynamic equilibrium, in which all the parts are in 
motion, and never return to precisely the same relative positions, 
but, nevertheless, continually balance round certain definite 
positions of equilibrium, which never change. What should we 
think of the astronomer who, from a few years' observation of 
the precession of the equinoxes, should predict that in due time 
the north pole of the earth's axis would point to the same posi- 
tion among the stars that the south pole now occupies? yet 
this very species of assumption is made by Lamarck and Darwin, 
in their appeal to the supposed influence of a long lapse of time. 
Yet, in the writings of the latter progressionist there is this 
singular inconsistency, that while he shows the utmost effects of 
human breeding on domestic animals to be capable of produc- 
tion in ten or twenty years, he denies the right of his adversaries 
to appeal to the unaltered condition of the ass, the ostrich, or 
the cat for 3000 years as a proof that specific forms balance 
round central types, and have no tendency to depart indefinitely 
from them. 
. Is it rational to suppose that man can alter the head and neck 
of a pigeon into any desired form in six years, and that nature, 
with her greater skill, cannot in 3000 years lengthen the ostrich's 
wings by a single inch, although, according to the theory, it is 
her evident wish to do so ? 
II. The causes of variation assigned are not adequate to pro- 
duce the effects assigned to them, — The discussion of the inade- 
Rev. S. Haughton on the Origin of Species. 427 
quacy of the causes assigned would lead to a treatise longer than 
that of Buffon, Lamarck, or Darwin ; and I must therefore 
content myself with an example. The humble bee and the hive- 
bee coexist together, and the latter is supposed to be developed 
from the former by the law of natural selection, breeding, in 
succession, bees possessed of the talent of economizing more and 
more of wax in the construction of their cells. 
1. The humble bee constructs single cells and uses 100 units 
of wax. 
3. A bee (not known to science, but, doubtless, extinct) was 
grown, that made cells in the form of equilateral triangles iplaced 
in double combs, with flat bottoms to the cells. This bee used 
only 50 units of wax. 
3. A bee (also extinct) was grown, that built sqtuire cells in 
double combs. This bee used only 41§ units of wax. 
4. A bee (also extinct) was grown, forming hexagonal cells 
with flat bottoms, in double combs. This bee used 33^ units 
of wax. 
5. The hive-bee (now living side by side with his humble 
progenitor) was produced by natural selection dependent on the 
economy of wax, arising from the contrivance of substituting for 
the flat bottoms of the hexagonal cells the trihedral angles and 
planes of the rhombic dodecahedron. 
This bee {our bee) uses 32§ units of wax. 
6. The Bee of the Future (not yet produced), which shall 
have learned how to construct the cell described by the mathe- 
matician L^Hullier. 
This bee will be broader and shorter than the present, the 
breadth and length admitting of prediction to any degree of 
approximation. 
This Bee of the Future will only require 24^ units of wax ! ! 
Vivat Geometria ! 
Of these six species of bee (the first and the fifth are living). 
No. 5 using only 32§ lbs. of wax in the construction of its cells 
for every 100 lbs. used by No. 1. According to the Malthusian 
law. No. 5 has exterminated No. 4, by virtue of the trifling 
advantage of §rds of a pound of wax in every 100 lbs. ; and this 
slight advantage is gravely alleged as the efficient cause of con- 
verting one species of bee into another ! This would be all very 
well, if No. 1, the spendthrift humble bee, were not still living, 
and holding his ground well against his enemies, to bear witness 
against this silly theory. 
In fact, the whole question of the economy of wax, and other 
such questions, require a thorough sifting. To my mind, it is 
evident that economy of wax has nothing whatever to do with 
the making of the bee's cells, but that this and other properties, - 
28* 
428 Rev. S. Haughton on the Origin of Species. 
such as maximum resistance to fluid pressure, &c., necessarily 
reside in the bee's cell because they are the inherent properties 
of the rhombic dodecahedron, which is the form affected by that 
cell. The true cause of that shape is the crowding together of 
the bees at work, jostling and elbowing each other, as was first 
shown by Buffon. From this crowding together, they cannot 
help making cells with the dihedral angles of 120° of the 
rhombic dodecahedron; and the economy of wax has nothing 
to do with the origin of the cell, but is a geometrical property 
of the figure named. 
III. The most serious logical blunder committed by all who 
invent a theory of life from the geological succession is, that 
Succession implies causation. It is agreed that the Palasozoic 
Cephalopoda produced, in some way or other, the Red Sandstone 
fishes ; that these in turn gave birth to the Liassic reptiles ; 
that the non-placental mammals of the Upper Oolite grew after 
some fashion, and ultimately produced the Tertiary mammals, 
some of which, in an unhappy hour, gave birth to man. The 
only fact at the basis of this astonishing inverted cone of 
reasoning is, that these creatures did succeed each other in the 
manner described ; and from this, forsooth, it follows {post hoc, 
ergo propter hoc) that they succeeded each other in the way of 
cause and effect. I propose to test this strange theory by a cor- 
responding theory of the mineralogical succession of igneous 
rocks, which opens up a fertile field of speculation, hitherto un- 
wrought. The igneous rocks of the Palseozoic period contain 
abundance of felspar, whose principal constituent is potash ; the 
Mesozoic igneous rocks abound in soda, replacing potash ; and 
in the Tertiary period, soda itself gives way to lime and magnesia. 
Viewed in the light of the Lamarckian philosophy, here is a 
distinct indication that soda and lime are only allotropic condi- 
tions of potash. We may read the history of their formation in 
the crust of the globe, if we will only open our eyes and see it 
written. I may add, by the way, that this theory of the origin 
of lime is more intelligible than that of many geologists, who 
would attribute the greater accumulations of calcareous rocks in 
secondary and tertiary strata to the creation of lime by organic 
force. 
If any chemist or mineralogist were to put forward such a 
geological theory of the origin of soda and lime as the fore- 
going, he would be regarded as a lunatic by other chemists and 
mineralogists. 
How does it happen that a theory of the origin of species, 
which rests on the same basis, is accepted by multitudes [?] of 
naturalists as if it were a new gospel ? I believe it is because 
our naturalists, as a class, are untrained in the use of the logical 
On the former Connexion of N. Africa with S. Europe. 429 
faculties which they may be charitably supposed to possess in 
common with other men. Is'o progress in natural science is 
possible as long as men will take their rude guesses at truth for 
facts, and substitute the fancies of their imagination for the sober 
rules of reasoning. 
It has been well observed by the greatest of living palaeonto- 
logists, " that past experience of the chance aims of human 
fancy, unchecked and unguided by observed facts, shows how 
widely they have ever glanced away from the golden centre of 
truth ! " 
XLVI. — On the former Connexion of North Africa ivith South 
Europe. By Prof. Edward Suess*. 
A LETTER lately received from M. Anca, of Palermo, addressed 
to M. Senoner, induces me to return to a subject which I have 
previously discussed, but the repeated consideration of which 
appears to me adapted to show the value which is possessed by 
the researches of M. Anca and some similar observations, even 
in connexion with the investigations now being carried out at 
Vienna. 
On the former occasion, I mentioned, as having resulted 
from the investigations of our distinguished Professor Homes 
regarding the fossil Mollusca of the Vienna Basin, an unex- 
pected identity of some species of our marine strata with shells 
now living on the coast of Senegambia. 
I then named as examples Cypraa sanguinolenta, Buccinum 
lyratum, and Oliva flammulata, and inferred, in accordance with 
the descriptions we possess of the great Sahara, that a sea once 
extended from the Gulf of Gabes to the region south of the 
Idjil range in the province of Aderer uniting the Senegambian 
shores with those of the Mediterranean. I appealed to the de- 
tailed statements of Laurent, who was commissioned to execute 
Artesian borings on the north border of the desert. In his 
report, he represented the desert as once covered by a wide arm 
of the sea which flowed in from the Gulf of Gabes, and of which 
unmistakeable traces are to be seen in the repeated terraces along 
the south border of the Aoures Mountains, where the former 
positions of the sea-coasts are indicated also by one of the most 
abundant inhabitants of the Mediterranean coast, Cardium edule, 
the shells of which lie here strewn about in great quantities, 
and which is even said to be still living in some pools of the 
desert. I also added that, at present, considerable tracts of the 
* From the Transactions of the Royal Imperial Geolopiical Institutiou 
of Vienna, January 1863. Communicated by Mr. S. P. Woouwar^.