Note 052
See their curious architecture in Reaumur
(Hist. des Insectes, tom. v. Memoire viii.) These hexagons
are closed by a pyramid; the angles of the three sides of a
similar pyramid, such as would accomplish the given end with
the smallest quantity possible of materials, were determined
by a mathematician, at 109 degrees 26 minutes for the
larger, 70 degrees 34 minutes for the smaller. The actual
measure is 109 degrees 28 minutes, 70 degrees 32 minutes.
Yet this perfect harmony raises the work at the expense of
the artist he bees are not masters of transcendent
geometry.]
The History Of The Decline And
Fall Of The Roman Empire
—Fall In The East
—Chapter 52