152 JOHN H. LOVELL 



less syrup should have been introduced into the empty flowers. 

 The experiments were, therefore, not well adapted for the pur- 

 pose intended and the results obtained, as interpreted by 

 Plateau, are misleading. 



In another series of experiments, Plateau unsuccessfully 

 attempted to draw insects to flowers by means of the odoriferous 

 essences of lavender, thyme, sage, and mint. "The Labiatae 

 are habitually much visited by bees and I hoped in giving 

 the preference to essences extracted from these plants to see 

 bees and allied insects drawn to the flowers." Essences of 

 orange and bergamot were also employed. But the attrac- 

 tion proved very small or non-existent. Certain essences as 

 thyme and sage were feebly attractive, while mint was even 

 repellent. •« 



Knuth makes the following comment: " From these experi- 

 ments it follows that solutions of odoriferous plant extracts, 

 which ought to attract insects, do not do so."'* Plateau subse- 

 quently attributed the failure of the flowers to attract insects to 

 the too violent and medicinal odors of the extracts employed; 

 they never possessed the delicate perfume of the plants from which 

 they were extracted. In a new series of experiments undertaken 

 in the spring and summer months of the years 1907-9, instead of 

 odoriferous essences, odoriferous liquid foods, which it had been 

 previously ascertained were attractive to insects, were intro- 

 duced into neglected flowers. The sweet liquids employed were 

 anisette I* (essence of anise, syrup of sugar and diluted alcohol), 

 the cooked juice of cherries, syrup of cassonadd' (syrup of brown 

 sugar to which a few drops of rum had been added), and syrup 

 of Angelica ■ > (syrup of cane sugar flavored with a strong aromatic 

 essence obtained from the petioles of Angelica officinalis). Fifty- 

 five experiments were performed with these syrups, but descrip- 

 tions of only a part of them were published, those being selected 



"Plateau, F., "Comment les fleurs attirent les insectes," 5me part., Bull, de 

 VAcad. roy. de Belgique, 34:872-5, 1897. 



"Knuth, P., " Handbook of Flower Pollination," 1:207. 



» A bee-keeper in California reported that he found essence of anise very useful 

 in attracting swarms of bees to empty hives, while another bee-keeper in Ohio did 

 not find it of much value. Gleanings in Bee Culture, 40:482. 



i' This is somewhat similar to the mixture used in " sugaring " for moths. Psyche, 

 19:195. 



■ 8 The tender stalks are preserved in sugar and sold as a confectionery. 



