86 THE FOUNDATIONS OF ZOOLOGY 



Who can believe that the transparent color and the long spines 

 of pelagic larvae have been produced by the direct action of these 

 adjustments upon their enemies^? When we remember that it is 

 not the spider but the butterfly which is deceived, can we believe 

 that the structure and habits of the Java spider are due, either 

 wholly or in any degree, to the inheritance of the effects of the 

 deception ? 



The brilliant colors and the pleasant fragrance of the flower are 

 useful to the plant, or at least to its species, since they attract 

 insects, and thus fertilize the seeds, and provide for its perpetuation. 



There is no difficulty in understanding how these useful properties 

 of the flower may have arisen by selection ; but if they are directly 

 due to the conditions of plant-life, their usefulness must be acci- 

 dental, for no one has any reason to believe that, prior to selection, 

 these conditions bear any relation to the feelings of an insect ; nor 

 can we believe that the visits of an insect will modify the color or 

 odor of a flower in such a way as to suit the insect's taste, except 

 by pure accident; unless, indeed, we choose to fancy that the insect 

 designedly modifies the flower. Even if this hypothesis be admitted, 

 it does not help the matter, unless we show that the insect intended 

 to modify the flower in such a way as to benefit the plant. 



Some may possibly be able to believe that the use of the color 

 and perfume of the plant in attracting insects is accidental ; but 

 can any one believe this of the complicated and delicate machinery 

 for securing insect-fertilization, which we find in the flowers of 

 orchids ? 



For all I know, the Lamarckian may claim that the visits of 

 insects have, in some way, modified the flower, to its own good, by 

 their mechanical action, by pulling down this part, and by pushing 

 up that, generation after generation, until they have caused adap- 

 tive modification in the flower. I do not know how much his 

 ingenuity may be able to make out of this hypothesis ; but no one 

 can believe that the hooks and spines, which are so obviously 

 adapted for distributing burrs and seeds, by fastening them to the 

 fur of passing mammals, have been produced by the inheritance of 

 the effects of this sort of mechanical contact; for these structures 

 do not come into use until they are dead ; and, most assuredly, dead 

 things cannot transmit " acquired characters " to their descendants. 



