Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 1.djvu/877

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of the thicknefs of the fpines, but of not more than half their length, very thin and transparent, open at the end, and placed on fhort pedicles. Ray, Syn. Quad. p. 208.

Hxstrix, in ichthyography, the name of a fifh of the orbis, or globe-fifh kind, ufually called in EngHfh, the porcupine fifh. Its ufual fize is between twelve and twenty inches in length. It is very thick, and is covered^ inftead of fcales, with a whitifh coriaceous fkin, every way befet with ftrong and fliarp thorns, the bafis of each of which has two other fmaller ones buried under the fkin. The opening of the mouth is very large, not lefs than three inches in the largeft fpecics. It has rough and rugged lips* and two broad bones in the place of teeth, one placed above, and the other below, and both arched, and a little prominent, as is alfo the whole mouth. The Eyes are large, the eye-lids elevated, and armed with four thorns. The thorns are from one to three inches in length ; the fides always have the longeft, and they gra- dually fhorten toward the back and belly. Its belly is white, and its back brown, fpotted with black, as are alio the fides. Chef. Exot. L. 6. C. 21.

HITCH, on fhip-board ; a word ufed for catching hold of any thing with a hook or a rope, and to hold it faft. Thus, when the boat is to be hoifed in, they fay* hitch the tackles into the rings of the boat : And when about to weigh anchor, bitch the fifh-hook to the fluke of the anchor.

HIVE. Bee-hives in different places, and on different occa- sions, are of very different materials. In fome places the hollow trunk of a tree ferves the purpofe ; in others they arc made of four boards nailed together in the fhape of a long box, and placed with one end upon the ground, or upon a frame of woodwork eredted for that purpofe. The moft ufual form of them, however, is conic and bell-fafhion'd ; and the common materials of which they are made are twifted ofier, or ftraw, nicely matted together, and made into a fort of thick cords, bound round with ofier bark. The laft is the moft commoij kind, and ferves perfectly well to all the pur- pofes of the bees, and of the people who make their pro- fits of the honey. The lodgment is fuffiriently warm and clofe for the bees ; and a thin frame of boards defends it from being injured by the wet. Reaumur, Hift. Infect, vol. 9.

People of fpeculative difpofitions have at all times been de- firous of feeing what patted in the Hive, and of obferving thefe induftrious creatures at their work; for this purpofe the antients contrived a way of placing certain fquares or panes of a tranfparent matter, fuch as horn, or the lapis fpe- cularis, or ifinglafs, in fome parts of the fides of the Hive, through which they might fee all that paffed within. This is mentioned by Ariftotle, Pliny, and others ; but it foon grew into difufe, and the later ages have fuppofed it an idle attempt. Mouffet, in particular, laughs at it, and fays, that the bees within would immediately fpoil the tranfparence of the mate- rials, be they what they would.

Of late, however, this method of making a tranfparent fort of Bee-hive, or leaving a tranfparent part in one, has been re- vived, to the great amufement and pleafure of thofe who have attempted it. The beft method of doing this, is to leave cer- tain fquares in the common Hive empty, and afterwards put- ting clear glafs to them ; this is to be neatly faftened in, and then a frame of wood to cover the whole, fo that the light is riot always let in upon the bees, but only the panes of glafs opened by removing the covering, at the times when the ob- ferver is to look at them. By this means it is found that the fquares of glafs, when properly placed, will keep clean and tranfparent, and all that pafies within may be feen, whenever the cafe that covers them is removed. The numbers of little animals, thus difcover'd, all laborioufly employed in the fame manner, is a wonderful and highly pleafing fight. The revival of this invention of the a orients -is fo late, that it is evident from the writings of Swammerdam, that in the year 1680 there was no fuch thing known; and it is to this that we are to impute the great imperfections of that author's accounts of the bee ; becaufc, though a moft accurate and faithful writer, he had no opportunities of feeing what we Jiave difcovered by means of this advantage. The fquares of glafs in the fides of Hives will continue clear and unfullied for years together ; and when they are fouled, there are eafy means of cleaning them, by taking them out, and replacing them again when wiped.

When the obferver places himfelf behind the Hive, and has one of thefe fquares of glafs before his eye, he fees exactly all that paffes within, and that without at all incommoding or interrupting the creatures at their work. The whole number of bees in the Hive are feen employed in different places, in their feveral works, and all with the moft furprizing activity. The honeycombs, or waxen receptacles for the honey, are begun as near the top as the form of the Hive will permit, and thence arc carried down to the bottom, each being placed parallel to the former, but not touching it, fuch a fpace being left between, that the bees have room to walk about in it. Thefe are the public ftreets, or places of refort of the whole people ; and it is by means of this fpace between, that they are able to make nfe of every cell. Moreover, as the bees fcavE frequent occafions to pafs between one pair of combs.

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to the fpace between another pair, there are a fort of alleys cut between thefe larger ftreets. Thefe are certain holes made through the fubftanCes of the feveral combs ; and thefe; without doing any confiderable harm to the whole, give the bees a much fhorter paffage from place to place than they otherwife could have. Though the parallel difpofition of the feveral combs is the moft frequent, it is not the only one in which they are found* for thefe creatures vary this according to the nature of the place they are lodged in. Frequently part of the combs which fill the Hive are thus placed, and part are arranged perpendicularly to them j and very often part of the combs are perpendicular, and the reft oblique. There are alfo feveral other directions, in which they are found to be pl.'.ced ; but all thefe may be eafily accounted for from the na- ture of the place, and will be always found to be the very beft that could be ufed on that occafion. Reaumur, Hift. Inf. vol. 9. p, 282.

It has generally been fuppofed, that every bee of the fwariri had its particular cell in fome comb which was its own, and contained honey for its peculiar food ; but this is by no means the cafe. The ufe of the glafs Hives has fliewn us, that all the cells are ufed in common ; that fome of theni contain only honey, and are_ covered over with a lid of wax ; others open at the top, and that the bees often vilit thefe laft. Common obfervation fhewing, that a bee was often fo lodged in one of thefe cells, that its hinder part only appeared, gave rife to the opinion of each having, in this manner, its pecu- liar cell, the honey of which he eat in this manner ; but, ori viewing the whole through thefe glaffcs, we fee the matter to be far otherwife. The covered cells, which contain only honey, are never touched at thefe times by any bee ; and each of thefe open ones containing, at its bottom, the worm of a bee, which is the proper offspring of the family. There are certain bees that are deputed tovifit thefe* and to fee how the young ones thrive; and thefe are feen in this manner plunging their heads into the feveral cells, one after another, and not continuing thus immerfed in any one, as had been fuppofed.

Though all this is feen, it is not, however, feen fo perfectly or diftinctly as might be wifhed ; for in Hives well filled with inhabitants, every thing, though really done in the greateft regularity and order in the world, yet feems done in tumult and confufion ; and on whatever bee the eye is fixed, in order to obferve its operations, the fight is hinder'd by numbers of others, which continually hide him, by coming oyer his head, or before him. The general fquore figure of the glafs Hives gives lefs opportunity of feeing what pafies within than many other figures might, becaufc very little fpace is under the eye at once. Reaumur, therefore having a great defire to go through the whole operations of thefe little animals, and fee every part of their work performed under his eye, had a great number of Hives made in different forms, in one or other of which he could fee the whole work. Some he made fo very narrow, that by having a glafs on each fide, he could fee all that pafied within from each fide; but the principal of his difcoveries were owing to fome Hives of a pyramidal figure, which were competed of three parts, eafily feparable from one another, and each armed with its glafies. The ftructure of thefe feveral kinds is defcribed at large in his work, to which we refer the reader.

By means of a glafs Hive, it will be obferved that, at moft times, and thro' molt feafons of the year, we fee only one kind of bees at work in the feveral parts of the Hive, or at leaft fuch as have very little difference from one another in fize and colour. At other times there are ken among them a very different race ; thefe were called by the Latins, furi* in Englifh, drones. The French confound thefe with the common humble bee, under the name of bourdons. Mr. Reaumur, however, has fet this right, and called them faux bourdons, baftard humble bees, by reafon they make a hum- ming noife with their wings, in the manner of the humble bee, but are very different from them in fhape and ftru- cture. Reaumur, Hift. Inf. vol, 9. p. 293. Thefe, indeed, are no other than the male bees, and arc ne- ver found in the Hives but in the months of May, June, and July. There appear but a very few of them at firft, but their number encreafes every day afterwards. Their propor- tion to the other bees- is but fmall ; and though they are differently numerous in different Hives, yet if they make fo large a proportion as one to fix, they are to be accounted very numerous.

This number, however, will appear very confiderable, in proportion to the reft, when we know that they are of no ufe in the work of the Hive ; that they never go out like the reft, or bring home wax or honey ; but that their whole bufinefs is the doing the office of their fex, and peopling the Hive.

The other bees, which we obferve fo very numerous, are by the French called, les ouvriers, or the working bees. Thefe, which are of no fex at all, neither male nor female, perform all the drudgery of the work ; they go out in fearch of wax and honey, and afterwards build and fill the combs. They have, after this, the care of the whole Hive, and are deftin'd for the looking after the young progeny, and taking care of

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