Abstract
THIS afternoon, while ascending a mountain pathway adown which water was trickling, after the torrents of rain that fell in the morning had ceased, I observed an appearance of the surface of running water so exactly like the hexagons of the bees' cells that I looked at it carefully for some time. Little air-bells of water seemed to issue from under the withered leaves lying in the tract, which rushed towards the hexagons, occupying an irregular space about four inches by five. As soon as these air-bells arrived at the hexagons, they arranged themselves into new cells, making up, apparently, for the loss occasioned by the continual bursting here and there of the cell-walls. No sooner had these cell-walls burst, than others closed in and took their places. The worst-formed hexagons were those at the under or lower side of the surface—the part of the surface farthest down the hill; here they were larger, and more like circles. By an ingenious mechanical theory, Darwin accounts for the hexagonal structures of the cells of the hive-bee so as to supersede the necessity of supposing that the hive-bee constructed its comb as if it were a mathematician. But here the blind forces of Nature, under peculiar conditions, had presented an appearance, on running water less than half an inch in depth, so entirely like the surface of a honeycomb, that it would be a startling result could it be reproduced in a laboratory.
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
SHAW, J. Honeycomb Appearance of Water. Nature 43, 30 (1890). https://doi.org/10.1038/043030b0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/043030b0
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.