As the pollen within the basket increases in amount it bulges outward, and projects downward below the lower edge of the basket. It is held in position by the long hairs which fringe the lateral sides of the basket, and its shape is largely determined by the form of these hairs and the direction in which they extend. When the basket is fully loaded the mass of pollen extends laterally on both sides of the tibia, but projects much farther on the posterior side, for on this side the bounding row of hairs extends outward, while on the anterior edge the hairs are more curved, folding upward and over the basket. As the mass increases in thickness by additions from below it is held in position by these long hairs which edge the basket. They are pushed outward and many of them become partly embedded in the pollen as it is pushed up from below. When the pollen grains are small and the whole mass is well moistened the marks made by some of the hairs will be seen on the sides of the load. (See fig. 9, _a_.) These scratches are also transverse in direction and they show that the mass has been increased by additions of pollen pushed up from below. Even a superficial examination of a heavily laden basket shows the fallacy of the supposition that the long lateral fringing hairs are used to comb out the pollen from the brushes of either the hind or middle legs by the crossing of these legs over the lateral edges of the baskets. They are far from sufficiently stiff to serve this purpose, and their position with relation to the completed load shows conclusively that they could not be used in the final stages of the loading process, for the pollen mass has completely covered many of them and its outer surface extends far beyond their ends. They serve merely to hold the pollen in place and to allow the load to project beyond the margins of the tibia.