The humble-bee makes separate and very irregular rounded cells.
The melipona domestica makes cells that are nearly spherical, but too near together for the spheres to be complete, flat walls of wax being built where they tend to intersect.
A little extra regularity, advantageous for the saving of wax and labour, would produce the symmetrical comb of the hive-bee with its two layers of hexagonal prisms.
[14] See ‘Principles of Biology,’ vol. i. pp. 428–431.
[15] ‘Origin of Species,’ p. 213; ‘Principles of Biology,’ vol. i. pp. 392, 394. The walking-fishes of India and the mud-fishes of Ceylon and New Zealand are described in an interesting article by Dr. Day of Torquay, in ‘All the Year Round’ for June 11th, 1870. Dr. Day seems to think the climbing powers of the anabas scandens less satisfactorily attested than other attributes of these extraordinary groups.
[16] Carpenter, ‘Animal Physiology,’ chap. 14.
[17] The design of this Essay was not, as has been erroneously supposed, to disprove the universality of the Deluge by help of Darwinism, but to remove one great obstacle to the general acceptance of Darwinism by disproving the universality of the Deluge. Taking the Theory of Development for granted, a recent universal Deluge would be too obviously impossible to need arguing against.
[18] Lyell, ‘Principles of Geology,’ ii. 332.
[19] Ibid. ii. 344.
[20] Lyell, ii. 336.