come to the conclusion that Linnaeus was right, whom he 

 quotes as saying that they "seem at the first glance per- 

 fectly distinct, but one who compares them with their con- 

 geners, and has before him all the varieties at the same 

 moment, will easily perceive them to be sprung from one 

 stock, and will find no means by which he can distinguish 

 them, however constant they may be." 



The interest of this subject is however by no means ex- 

 hausted when this conclusion is arrived at ; on the contrary, 

 in a philosophical point of view, it is vastly increased, for Mr. 

 Moggridge has, with great acuteness, observed some very cu- 

 rious facts connecting the various forms of flowers with their 

 seasons of coming into flower, showing " the intimate con- 

 nection which exists between the sequence in which each 

 variety flowers, and its approximation to one of the extreme 

 forms ;" a sequence which, he goes on to say, he " cannot 

 regard as fortuitous," but is rather " led to surmise that laws 

 new to me are here in operation." The different varieties 

 occupy no less than five months in flowering ; the plant 

 here figured (0. aranifera) commences the series, flowering 

 in December at Mentone (at Kew in February), whilst the 

 last to flower is the 0. apifera (our Bee-Orchis), which there 

 appears in April, but with us in June. 



For further particulars I must refer to Mr. Moggeridge's 

 excellent work, and can only hope that, with extended oppor- 

 tunities, he will be able to clear up the whole question of the 

 origin and interdependence of the principal forms of Ophrys. 

 —J. I). II. 



