730 NATURAL SCIENCE. i,,^.^ 



living Sumatran and Javan Rhinoceroses through R. deccanensis and 

 R. harnuliensis of the Indian Pleistocene, the authoress is clearly in 

 error, since, if these species had any lower cutting-teeth at all, it is 

 quite certain that they must have been rudimental ones. It may 

 further be added that, in so widely separating the two-horned. 

 Pleistocene Rhinoceroses of Europe from the existing African species, 

 which they resemble in the absence of front teeth, we think that the 

 authoress has decidedly carried the doctrine of " parallelism " to an 

 extreme. 



Late Flowering Plants. 



While we write, the ivy is in flower, and bees, wasps, and flies 

 are jostling each other and struggling to find standing-room on the sweet- 

 smelling plant. How great must be the advantage obtained by this 

 plant through its exceptional habit of flowering in the late autumn, 

 and ripening its fruit in the spring. To anyone w4io has watched the 

 struggle to approach the ivy-blossoms at a time when nearl}^ all other 

 plants are bare, it is evident that as far as transport of pollen and 

 cross-fertilisation go, the plant could not flower at a more suitable 

 time. The season is so late that most other plants are out of flower, 

 but yet it is not too late for many insects to be brought out by each 

 sunny day, and each insect, judging by its behaviour, must be 

 exceptionally hungry. 



Not only has the ivy the world to itself during its flowering 

 season, but it delays to ripen its fruit till the spring, a time when 

 most other plants have shed their seed, and most edible fruits have 

 been picked by the birds. Thus birds wanting fruit in the spring can 

 obtain little but ivy, and how they appreciate the ivy berry is evident 

 by the purple stains everywhere visible within a short distance of the 

 bush. 



The ivy berry, however, has a soft seed with a large unprotected 

 embryo, which is totally destroyed by digestion ; yet the conspicuous 

 glossy blackness is evidently employed to attract birds. How can 

 birds be of use to a plant thus endowed ? It seems probable that in 

 this case, as with many other abundantly-fruiting plants, a large 

 proportion of the fruit acts merely as bait and thus allows by accident a 

 small proportion of the seeds to be transported uninjured. Anyone who 

 has watched birds feeding from a superabundant supply will have 

 noticed that a considerable number of seeds slip and drop uninjured, 

 the bird not taking the trouble to search for them w'hile there are plenty 

 more on the bush. Thus probably are ivy berries dropped at the 

 foot of the surrounding trees and walls on which the birds perch. 



The ivy is therefore a plant which will always tend to occur 

 abundantly as far north as the climate will permit it, for the further 

 it travels north the less the competition from other plants, and the 

 greater the competition of the insects and birds for its favours. 



