Oct.) BHES AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF FLOWERS 241 
in, to swamp them, if possible, by inter-crossing, and so prevent 
them from developing into species. 
How bees fail as species-makers, may be seen from the following 
examples. In a field of buttereups there are often two species in 
blossom side by side, Ranunculus bulbosus and R. acris. The 
former begins to blossom a good deal earlier than the latter, but 
the flowering times of the two overlap. If you watch a bee among 
these, she will often for a time keep to one species. &. acris stands 
a good deal higher and, owing to this, she will for a while perhaps 
pass over &. bulbosus. But before long she will often change her 
level and busy herself with the lower-growing species. In a bed 
of mixed polyanthus flowers she may often be seen going from one 
colour to another, heedless of the claims of polytypie evolution. 
The same thing takes place when she is busy upon rhododendrons 
and columbines of slightly different or even widely different tints. 
These instances of infidelity to colour or species I select because 
I have recently observed them. There is no doubt that they 
overthrow the theory that insects by their constancy have been 
makers of new species. It must be owned that bees, in spite. of 
their great reputation, dating from the days of Aristotle, are great 
blunderers. Still I cannot but believe that to bees and other 
insects are due all the brilliant colours of wild flowers. The 
transference of pollen from variety to variety is an undoubted fact. 
But what if it produces no effect? A number of French botanists, 
wishing to prove that evolution was a myth, have made experiments, 
during a number of years, showing that even varieties distinguished 
by what appear the most trifling differences, are inter-sterile. This 
discovery is in reality no blow to evolution, but by the irony of 
fate 1t comes in very opportunely to help the Darwinian theory. 
The inconstancy or defective constancy of bees is of no consequence, 
since most varieties and, possibly, all species of wild plants are 
inter-sterile or, if they are not absolutely inter-sterile, their own 
pollen is prepotent, so that when two pollens are put on one flower, 
that which represents its own variety or species alone takes effect. 
In addition to all experiments made by botanists, we have those 
made by the bees themselves: they are constantly doing their best 
to inter-cross species and varieties, and we know that the species 
and varieties remain distinct. 
To account, then, for the colours of flowers we have the proved 
colour-sense of bees—Sir John Lubbock has tested it by experiment: 
they are attracted by brilliant blossoms and, therefore, it has been 
to the interest of plants, in order to obtain cross-fertilisation, to 
produce conspicuous flowers. Every variation in the direction of 
1An account of these experiments may be found in Romanes’ Darwin and after 
Darwin, vol. iii. 
