12 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



and crawled in, while through the narrow slit which the spathe 

 provided as an entrance could he seen many small black flies, 

 co-operators with the beetles in their scavenger-mission in the 

 world. So numerous are these flies that spiders take advantage 

 of their presence to spin webs in the darker recesses of the 

 chamber of the spathe, there to ply their nefarious practice of 

 capturing them. Nature seems to have reached the zenith 

 of evolutionary oddity when she created these imitators of 

 putrid flesh as an inducement to attract' the scavenger insects. 



And now my attention was focused on the gorgeous 

 blossom of the lady's slipper, a delightful contrast to that of 

 its loathsome neighbor. The odor is fragrant and sweet, and 

 we seem to meet the culmination of all that is lovely and 

 beautiful in this wondrous flower. The question uppermost in 

 my mind was: "Is it possible that this dainty blossom should 

 be desecrated by visits from the same scavengers which call 

 upon its foul-smelling neighbor?" I decided to investigate, 

 and had not long to wait. With a loud buzzing of its tiny 

 wings, a bee flew to the slit between the two main petals of the 

 exquisite blossom and forced his burly frame inside. What 

 takes place in such cases is well known. Within, the bee finds 

 a spacious compartment, toward one end of which a feast of 

 the finest nectar awaits him. After banqueting, he investigates 

 to find the easiest way out. He cannot leave by the entrance, 

 since the fissure has already closed behind him. Beyond the 

 nectary, two tiny gleams of white light attract him, and he 

 forces his way through the narrow passage to the world out- 

 side. But on the way out, he pays for his feast by having 

 his back scraped free of pollen by means of the sticky, hairy 

 stigma, which he is forced to touch. Just as he is about to 

 emerge to liberty the flower exacts its final toll by plastering 

 his back with a bountiful supply of pollen. Satisfied with his 

 experience, the bee seeks another lady's slipper, where the 

 pollen from the previous host is carded out by the bristly 



