LINARIA CYMBALARIA. 195 



Blossom and Fruit.— In considering the corolla, I am at a 

 disadvantage. I have searched every locality known to me in Bath, 

 but not a single flower can I find. The winter's frosts have inter- 

 fered with their production, although in some seasons they bloom 

 all the year through. I therefore must depend upon slides and 

 drawings for the illustration of this part of my paper. To all 

 superficial observers, the whole plant is insignificant. The vast 

 majority, therefore, of " the people " pass by the old walls fes- 

 tooned with its graceful foliage, and never notice the exceeding 

 beauty of its floral structure. The blossom is almost identical in 

 shape with the corolla of the Garden or Wild Snapdragon, gaping, 

 bulging at the base and its throat, furnished with thickly-set hairs. 

 It has, however, a distinct spur or nectary, which is wanting in the 

 flowers of the ordinary Snapdragons (Fig. 2, a, l>, c). The lips of 

 the corolla are closely set, and we must use needle and scalpel in 

 order to lay bare the palate of the tiny flower, if we wish to enjoy 

 its greatest charm. This consists in the beautiful orange-coloured 

 and silvery hairs which lie thickly together within the lips. The 

 yellow hairs lie closely together in rows, as seen in Fig. 3. Of 

 course, they will be of much greater beauty if the palate of a 

 fresh corolla be laid open, and then examined under the micro- 

 scope. The hairs under a high power have a peculiarly marked 

 surface ; the margins of them appear to have very fine inequalities 

 or serratures, and these, I think, are due to exceedingly minute 

 protuberances which are scattered over their surfaces. They are 

 larger at the apex than at the base, and I append a drawing (Fig. 4) 

 of the corolla hairs as they appear when magnified 300 dia- 

 meters. 



Let me now proceed to describe the Organs of Fructifica- 

 tion. These occupy a position within the corolla immediately oppo- 

 site to the hairs just described. Since the researches of Mr. Darwin 

 m relation to insects and plant fertilisation have been made 

 known, and especially since the publication of Sir John Lubbock's 

 interesting book, entitled " British Wild Flowers considered in 

 relation to Insects," the most important question in relation to 

 wild flowers is : — Are they fertilised by the agency of wind or 

 insects, or are they capable of self-fertilisation ? To this particular 

 plant, I cannot find that Sir John Lubbock makes any allu- 



