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plant is prolonged into a narrow tube, obliging the insect to walk over 
the petals, and so displace the anthers of the epipetalous stamens. 
In the Mignonette, the glandular surface is raised into a high ridge, 
which is nectariferous, and the polyadelphous stameus inarch over it, 
their bright orange colour directing attention to that particular spot. 
In the majority of nectariferous flowers the nectary is at the 
base of the petal. The genesis of these nectaries is well shewn 
in a few closely allied plants belonging to the Ranunculuceze. The 
Adonis has a spot, not in the slightest degree nectariferous, just 
above the claw. In the common buttercup this becomes a hollow, 
covered by a thin scale. In the hellebore the hollow is so much 
deepened that the whole petal becomes a tube. In the Myosurus 
the hollow extends down the claw itself. In the other orders we 
find further developments. Thus the Berberry has two nectar 
glands at the base of each petal. In the fritillary the hollow of 
the buttercup is lengthened laterally into a furrow; while the 
hollow petal of hellebore extends into the long spurs of the 
Tropzolum, Columbine, aud Honeysuckle. 
The separate glands of the Crucifere are repeated in many 
other flowers with variable numbers. The Parnassia has branched 
scales at the base of the petals, with nectaries on each branch; and 
the Violet has nectaries projecting from its stamens. 
The students in search of nectaries should choose a hot summer’s 
afternoon, when the honey-like scent of the hedgerows shews that the 
nectariferous glands are secreting copiously. Mindful of the require- 
ments of insects he should direct his attention to such flowers as have 
bright colours or rich fragrance, and wherever petals are marked with 
veins, stripes, or deep notches he may expect these guides to lead him, 
as they doubtless do the insects, to the concealed storehouse of insects. 
During his investigations he will be able to discover the con- 
trivances, scarcely similar in any two species, whereby the inseet, in 
gratifying his own appetite, is made to serve the life-purpose of the 
flower, and thus will be able to form a judgment on the larger question 
of which this is but a small part—the relation of insects to flowers. 
