314 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OP [1886. 



ON THE FEETILIZATION OF CASSIA MARILANDICA, 

 BY THOMAS MEEHAN. 



The relation of insects to flowers continues to be a question of 

 profound interest. It lias never been clear to my mind that 

 insects are any material aid to plants through the pollinization 

 which they often undoubtedly accomplish. There has been little 

 to prove that in-and-in or close breeding is an injurj^; and it has 

 been assumed that cross-breeding among plants must be a benefit, 

 solely because arrangements for its accomplishment surely exist. 

 I have shown in various papers (see chiefly Proceedings of 

 American Association for the Advancement of Science^ Detroit 

 meeting), that in a scheme of nature for progressive development 

 there must be provided arrangements for the removal of old as 

 well as for the introduction of new forms, and /rom the facts ad- 

 duced we have as much right to look on them in the light of 

 agencies for removal as for the strength and preservation of a 

 race. In my mind, the facts rather show that instead of any 

 material aid to the propagation of the race being gained, the 

 dependence of a plant on insect aid for fertilization is rather an 

 indication that its race is nearly run, and that it is on the down- 

 ward track in the order of nature. 



The assumption that cross-fertilization is a factor in develop- 

 ment instead of in degradation, has, I believe, been an injury to 

 the study of the main question, as it has led to generalizations 

 that cannot be sustained, and to assertions regarding facts that I 

 think would not have been made had not the observers been pre- 

 possessed in favor of this hypothesis. The followers of those 

 who have done so much to advance this branch of science, have 

 gone much further in their speculations than those who first 

 originated the line of thought ; and even the leading minds in 

 that path have often been the victims of an enthusiasm of which 

 their cooler moments would not approve. Here and there we 

 meet with statements by even such eminent naturalists as Darwin 

 and Asa Gray, that would seem to sustain the wide genralizations 

 of Grant Allen or Sir John Lubbock ; but a careful study of their 

 writings will show that they look on cross-fertilization as a fact, 

 and as a measure of race utility, from a much more limited field 



