SEED-MASS ETC. OF HELLEBORUS FŒTIDUS. 451 
is concerned ; neither can there be any doubt that they carry off fragments 
and single seeds, and also, as found by Sernander, the detached elaiosomes, 
as well as seeds from which the bait has been removed—attracted, no doubt, 
in the last instance by the oil-drops remaining upon the testa. 
It is true that some ants, including Formica and Donisthorpea, carry larvæ 
into the nest, either whole or in bits ; but whatever one may think about the 
mass, one can hardly believe that they mistake the fragments or the single 
seeds for parts of a larva, or that they could work upon the mass itself for 
32 or 40 minutes without realizing that it was not what they thought 
it to be. 
Personally Г am at one with Sernander in disagreeing with Ludwig's 
suggestion, and especially because it is difficult to see how it operates. One 
hears about mimetic resemblances so much that is fanciful or forced, if 
not positively foolish, that one is naturally prone to criticise them pending the 
production of evidence that is really pertinent and cogent. I admit I am 
always inclined to look askance at supposed cases, because, among other 
reasons, it 1s necessary to be on one's guard against running adaptation too 
hard. Organisms, as well as things inorganie, must have some form, size, 
and eolour, whether it be of survival value or not—these are among the raw 
materials with which Natural Selection works, preserving, eliminating, or 
ignoring, as the case may be; and it is, to my mind, not reasonable to assume 
that every chance resemblance, real or imaginary, must be of use to its 
possessor—that is a trap, about which it behoves us to be very wary indeed 
at all times. 
Such cases as that of our Hellebore—and Т know a great many of a 
similar nature in the world of fruits and seeds—demand a great deal of 
proving. 
It is difficult to believe that ants, which cannot be thought of as wanting 
in intelligence, would be taken in more than once, unless, indeed, seed- 
masses and larvæ occur together in time and space and the resemblance is 
pretty close ; and even if they were deceived they would, one must believe, 
soon discover the mistake. 
Again, it is not easy to decide which of the five senses is to be invoked to 
attract an ant from a distance, even if it be but an inch or two. Touch and 
taste may be ruled out at once, because neither of them operates except by 
actual contact. Smell and hearing are equally hopeless, until we can be sure 
of the emission of a larva-like odour or sound ; and so, barring the assumption 
of some unknown sense, which is not a very promising start in quest of a 
proof, we are reduced to sight, and I admit I have grave doubts whether an 
ant eould see the strip at all until it was upon the mass, especially when it 
lay, as is so often the case, with the elaiosome uppermost. 
"Moreover, I do not believe that any additional ineentive is necessary 
