HARDIVICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSjP. 



223 



dry weather and in winter time buried below the 

 surface — you meet them above the surface during the 

 autumnal months, and before daybreak in April — 

 they will be found covered by a sort of a cocoon 

 tapering towards the shell, and formed by an exuda- 

 tion of their own mucus. 



Their length of life is about five or six years, and 

 their young — not as in a good many slugs — are as 

 much like their adult in colour as can be. 



M. Dugul, writing as early as 1740, records it as 

 living near Dieppe, under the name of the " Co- 

 quillade." Tapping has described a very slight 

 variety under the name of Tcstacdlus Medii, Temple ; 

 years ago. 



{To be continued.) 



A RED LEAF— A STUDY IN BOTANY. 

 By G. W. Bulman. 



I HAVE just gathered a very brilliant red leaf from 

 a shrub whose foliage has begun to acquire the 

 autumn tints at a time when other trees are leafless, 

 and have been " chewing the cud " of the various 

 reflections to which it has given rise. 



It is as vivid, and a shade deeper in colour than 

 the petals of a scarlet geranium with which I have 

 just compared it. At a little distance the plant looks 

 as though it were studded with bright red flowers or 

 berries. And I need not remind my readers that such 

 brightly coloured leaves are not uncommon at certain 

 seasons of the year. They always appear to me to 

 offer a strange comment, almost a satire, in fact, on 

 certain modern botanical theories with regard to the 

 colours of flowers. I allude to the notion, that 

 coloured petals are specially developed to attract 

 insects, and by the selective action of the latter. 

 Blue and red for bees, yellow for beetles, and white 

 for moths. 



For what purpose, we may fairly ask the pro- 

 pounders of such theories, has this leaf now before 

 me assumed such a brilliant hue ? Not to guide the 

 honey-seeking bee to hidden stores of nectar, for there 

 are none. Nor do bees visit them in expectation of 

 such. Yet we might fairly expect the insects to seek 

 honey upon such leaves if it were the red petals of 

 honey-bearing flowers which attracted them. Can 

 the colour of the leaf be shown to be any distinct 

 benefit to the plant in the struggle for existence ? 

 We are told that the blue, red, and yellow of our 

 flowers was developed because the individual plants 

 possessing such colours were better able to survive. 

 Can this be said of red leaves ? Yet we are just as 

 much bound to account for the colours of these as of 

 the varied hues of the blossoms. 



I think we may learn two things very clearly from 

 a study of this lovely specimen of the beauty of decay. 

 First that brilliant colours may be developed without, 

 the selective action of insects, and secondly that 



insects are not always attracted by such colours. 

 Such considerations should make us pause ere we 

 accept the theories alluded to as established truths. 



But it is not enough, apparently, to say that colour 

 generally in flowers is developed to attack insects. 

 The theory goes, further, and asserts that special 

 colours are developed to attract particular insects. 

 Thus we are assured, on the authority of Sir John 

 Lubbock, that bees show a decided preference for red 

 and blue. Sir John Lubbock has proved it, says one 

 writer. He taught them to take honey off different 

 colours. He is at present engaged, we learn, on 

 equally good authority, in teaching dogs to read. 

 Let us hope that, if he succeeds in so doing, he will 

 not infer that dogs in their natural state have any 

 fancy for having their food labelled. 



Surely it would be more philosophical and con- 

 clusive to study the habits of bees with regard to 

 flowers, in order to arrive at a knowledge of their 

 tastes, than to trust to any experiments with honey 

 and coloured paper, however well conducted. What 

 then are we taught respecting their tastes in the 

 matter of colour by a study of their natural habits ? I 

 will give the result of my own observation. Let my 

 readers run over in their minds the colour of the 

 flowers on which they have most frequently seen the 

 "azure-loving bee." 



It would be difficult to name two more brilliant 

 red flowers than the common poppy and scarlet 

 geranium. On these I have never seen bees. Again, 

 where can brighter blue be found than in the spring 

 scilla, nemophila, periwinkle, and minor convolvulus? 

 As far as my observation goes, bees seldom, or never, 

 visit these. Other red and blue flowers, as scarlet 

 runner, larkspur, and wild hyacinth, are frequented, 

 by them. The following white, yellow, and greenish 

 flowers are much frequented : white clover, pear 

 blossom, yellow crocus, dandelion, tropxolum, 

 peregrinum, lime-tree, mignonette, willows. In 

 addition to these, a host of others might be men- 

 tioned, of various undecided shades, to which it is 

 difficult to give a name, as favourite resorts of the 

 honey-seeking bee. In the face of all this, it is 

 asserted that bees prefer blue or red ! I have seen 

 them pass over beds containing flowers of various 

 shades of these colours to get at yellow ones. I have 

 stood under the lime-tree (tilia) covered with its 

 greenish-yellow blossoms, and listened to the hum of 

 the busy insects, as in the neighbourhood of hives in 

 swarming time ; and this at a time of year when 

 meadows are gay with flowers of various hues. In 

 the autumn, maples, brambles, and a host of others, 

 put on most brilliant shades of red, and yet fail to 

 attract the bees. Are we to put all this aside because 

 Sir John Lubbock has proved that these insects 

 prefer blue and red ? 



Sum are the thoughts which occur to me in 

 connection with the red leaf with which I began this 

 paper. To others it may tell a different story. To 



