i877.] FERTILISATION OF FLOWERS. 459 



had it not been delayed in London. I had not heard before 

 that I was to be proposed as a Corresponding Member of the 

 Institute. Living so retired a life as I do, such honours 

 affect me very little, and I can say with entire truth that your 

 kind expression of sympathy has given and will give me much 

 more pleasure than the election itself, should I be elected. 



Your idea that dicotyledonous plants were not developed 

 in force until sucking insects had been evolved seems to me 

 a splendid one. I am surprised that the idea never occurred 

 to me, but this is always the case when one first hears a new 

 and simple explanation of some mysterious phenomenon. . . . 

 I formerly showed that we might fairly assume that the 

 beauty of flowers, their sweet odour and copious nectar, may 

 be attributed to the existence of flower-haunting insects, but 

 your idea, which I hope you will publish, goes much further 

 and is much more important. With respect to the great 

 development of mammifers in the later Geological periods 

 following from the development of dicotyledons, I think it 

 ought to be proved that such animals as deer, cows, horses, 

 &c. could not flourish if fed exclusively on the graminete and 

 other anemophilous monocotyledons ; and I do not suppose 

 that any evidence on this head exists. 



Your suggestion of studying the manner of fertilisation of 

 the surviving members of the most ancient forms of the 

 dicotyledons is a very good one, and I hope that you will 

 keep it in mind yourself, for I have turned my attention to 

 other subjects. Delpino I think says that Magnolia is fer- 

 tilised by insects which gnaw the petals, and I should not be 

 surprised if the same fact holds good with Nymphaea. 

 Whenever I have looked at the flowers of these latter plants 

 I have felt inclined to admit the view that petals are modified 

 stamens, and not modified leaves ; though Poinsettia seems 

 to show that true leaves might be converted into coloured 

 petals. I grieve to say that I have never been properly 

 grounded in Botany and have studied only special points — 

 therefore I cannot pretend to express any opinion on your 

 remarks on the origin of the flowers of the Coniferae, Gneta- 



