PO VER TY AND BANKR UPTC Y. 211 



their numbers. The Oak has reduced its normal 

 number of five carpels to two, and is now engaged 

 in still further limiting them to one. 



In other cases a different plan is adopted for 

 limiting the number of seeds, especially when the 

 latter are large, and therefore likely to drain the 

 parent-plant of a considerable amount of food-stuffs, 

 difficult to be replaced, as everybody who has ob- 

 served is aware how an Apple-tree is weakened after 

 bearing an unusual quantity of fruit. Few trees 

 have more brilliant flowers than the Horse-chestnut, 

 but only some of each spike appear to be successfully 

 fertilised. The fruits which subsequently appear 

 are still numerous, but afterwards commences the 

 " slaughter of the innocents." The law of natural 

 selection goes on in each cluster of young chestnuts. 

 The tree cannot possibly afford to supply them all 

 with food-stuffs. They wither and droop, and cover 

 the ground with blighted immature fruits. Those 

 hidden from sunshine go first, for they are unfavour- 

 ably situated. Weak -stemmed and inefficiently - 

 crossed individuals follow, and so on ; until only one 

 or two prickly husks remain to fully ripen, where 

 perhaps a dozen commenced, all seemingly with the 

 same chances of success ! 



Grant Allen {Flowers and their Pedigrees) holds 

 that Wheat and Grasses are florally degraded Lilies, 

 whose three carpels are reduced to one, and that 

 with only a solitary seed in each instance. The 



