ADDITIONAL NOTES, NOTE I. LINE 95. Where the light cloud the dark blue mountain kist. MANY years since the author was much amused with watching, on the opposite shore of Anglesey, the progress of the clouds, as they journeyed from Caernarfon bay to the peak of Snowdon. At first a few white fleeces rose lightly from the wave, and rested on Yr Eifl, a groupe of conical hills, that jut into the sea about fifteen miles south-west of Caernarfon, Other fleeces ascended in succession, and united with the former; just as distinct drops of quicksilver, or water, when rolling on an even surface, rush together at a certain point of approximation. These still attracting others in their way, and proceeding from hill to hill, soon hid completely from the view the whole range of Snowdon mountains; which a short time before were perfectly clear, and cloudless, To give the young reader some general idea of the causes of this phenome, non, a few observations may probably suffice. The chain of hills above-mentioned trends from the south-west, which is well known to be the most rainy point in this island. A current of air, passing over the Atlantic ocean, must necessarily be loaded with vapours; and these vapours being lighter than common air, (in the proportion, according to Kirwan, of 10 to 12, and to Saussure of 10 to 14) will of course ascend, Borne by the wind among the mountains, they will be there condensed by a variety of causes. I From the subtraction of their heat by the earth's colder surface; it being a property of that quality, or substance, to diffuse itself equably through all contiguous bodies; and the temperature of the atmosphere constantly diminishing in proportion to its height above the level of the sea. THOMSON'S Chemistry, Vol. III. p. 335. 2dly. From the mountain's forming a kind of nucleus, round which vapours may condense; thus sticks or straws, plunged into a saturated solution of any salt, are soon covered with crystals; and condensation might be termed a kind of liquid crystallization of an invisible elastic fluid. 3dly. From the striking of the vapours against the mountain; as we know the crystallizing process is greatly quickened by percussion, or agitation of the vessel, in which a saline solution is contained. Where clouds are already formed, the same causes may produce the precipitation of the clouds in rain; especially when aided by the following circumstance. We find from the experiments of Messrs. Bennet, Volta, and Saussure, that a certain portion of electric fluid is necessary to the suspension of vapours; these being generally charged with positive, or vitreous electricity, and the water from which they rose, in a negative, or resinous state of electrization. The clouds thus loaded will, on coming within striking distance of the earth, discharge into it their superabundant, or opposite electricity, and a torrent of rain be the immediate consequence. So slightly indeed are the globules of water, constituting a mist, or cloud, bound together, that a single tree in a vale has frequently produced the same effect; both by arresting the progress of the passing cloud, and by exposing the very extensive surface of its leaves for condensation. WHITE'S History of. Selborne, p. 205. Hence may be explained what is called, in common language, the attraction of hills and forests, and the frequency of severe rain in the neighbourhood of mountains, and on the western coasts of our island. On what does the dark blue tint of the hills, preceding rain, depend? That these are then seen through a more strongly refractive medium is evident from their greater apparent magnitude and nearness. In a direct ratio to this power in the atmosphere will the more refrangible rays of light, as blue, indigo, or violet, be reflected both from the heavens, and from distant terres. trial objects; while a sky of glowing red, the least refrangible of all prismal colours, is uniformly deemed the herald of fair weather. NOTE II. L. 218. Or rob the Hazel of its golden meal. AS the farina of the anthers serves to fertilize the stigma, or female organ of flowers, and the honey seems intended for the nutriment of both; theory at first would lead us to conclude that bees must be seriously hurtful to vegetation. Nature, however, seems amply to have provided against all such injuries. A single plant of Mullein, Poppy, or Foxglove, though close to an extensive apiary, will be found to produce millions of well-ripened seeds. The blossoms of the Cacalia, or Alpine Coltsfoot, are constantly crouded with bees, and butterflies; but they are supplied with such a profusion of honey as to be scented at a considerable distance, and with abundant suckers, and offsets, to remedy any seminal failure. Nor is this provision against accidents wasted in any instance; the seeming redundancy yielding food to innumerable insects, and even to man himself. Not honey alone, but all the various fruits, whose pulp is primarily intended to nourish the embryo seed, are proofs of this multiplied beneficence of nature. NOTE III. L. 251. Brush'd from each anther's crown, the mealy gold IN spring, which may be called the Bee's first carrying season, scarce one of the labourers is seen returning to the hive without a little ball, or pellet, on each This ball is invariably of the same colour with the antherthen in bloom, the different shades of yellow, as pale, of its binder legs. dust of the flowers greenish, or deep orange, being most prevalent; and frequently the whole body of the insect is covered with the same, slightly adhering in the form of powder. But how are these pellets collected, and conveyed? The Bee has three pairs of legs, all composed of several joints, articulated like our arms, and affording a variety of movements. In the four hinder legs one joint forms a kind of brush, externally smooth, and bare, but covered on the inside with stiff bristling hairs. By these the insect is enabled to brush off farina both from the tips of the stamina of flowers, and what may have stuck to the hairs on its own body. With the jaws, and two fore-feet, the meal is rolled into small compact masses, which are conveyed by the middle pair of legs to the spoon-shaped cavities in the centre joint of the two hindmost feet; and which are surrounded by strong close-set hairs, to secure more firmly the precious burdens. No such groove is to be found in the legs of either the Queen-bee, or Drone. It has been frequently remarked, that the bees prefer the morning for gathering the farina, and that their principal toil is from the dawn till ten o'clock; most probably, that the dew may assist in moulding their little balls. f The opinion that these balls formed war to construct the cells, was long very generally, and implicitly believed; yet a few considerations may convince us of its fallacy. The wax of a new-made comb, from whatever source it may have been collected, is uniformly white, and as invariably changes by age first to a yellow, and last to a blackish tinge. Farina, on the contrary, always agrees in colour with the anther-dust of the flowers in blossom, and remains so, when deposited in the cells, "At whatever time of the year we kill a hive, we "shall find this substance ;" and "if we slit down a cell filled with it, we shall "commonly find it composed of layers of different, colours." Philosophical Transactions, 1792, p. 156. In old hives, stocked with combs to the very stand, the bees are busily employed in gathering farina throughout the spring; while those of a fresh colony do not carry any for some days after swarming, though they have all their cells to form. Surprized at these circumstances, and unable to reconcile them with the identity between wax and pollen (farina), Mr. Huber was induced to make the following experiments. He lodged a swarin in a straw hive, with a sufficient quantity of honey and water for their consumption, and closed the door, so as to confine the bees, and at the same time admit the renewal of the air. In free days, as many combs of the most beautiful wax, perfectly white, were suspended from the roof, and the honey had totally disappeared. As, however, it was possible that the legs and stomachs of the bees might have been previously stored with pollen, he returned the swarm into its own hive, wholly deprived of combs, with a similar supply of honey; and repeated the experiment five times successively, with precisely the same result. But on shutting up a swarm with pollen only, and some fruit for their subsistence, not a single cell was formed during the eight days of their captivity, nor was an atom of the farina touched: a clear proof that this substance supplies them with neither wax, nor sustenance. NICHOLSON'S Journal, Vol. IX. p. 184, &c. To what use, then, is the anther-dust applied by these industrious foragers? Reaumur, having calculated that a well-stocked hive might collect at least a hundred pounds of this substance in a season, and observing that the weight of wax, fabricated in the same time, exceeded not two pounds; was obliged to suppose that a very large proportion of it was used as food, and the rest discharged in the form of excrement; circumstances by no means consistent with either the simplicity or frugality of Nature. It is not probable that it serves to feed the full-grown bees, being gathered abundantly in those seasons, when honey is most plentiful; and hives, whose tenants have evidently died by famine, have been found plentifully stored with farina, though totally void of honey, Mr. Hunter first suggested the idea of its supplying nutriment for the infant bees; an idea well supported by the analogy of other animals, the young brood being in nearly every instance fed by a peculiar pabulum. On carefully examining the stomachs of the maggot bees, he found evident farina in all of them, but never one particle of honey. Philosophical Transactions, 1792, p. 158. Mr. Huber's experiments (loco supra citato) fully confirm the same. |