22 
powerful on the stigma of a short-styled specimen than its 
own, and vice versa: hence if the stigma in a rose centre gets 
sprinkled with pollen, both from its own anthers and from 
those of a pin centre, the latter will be most probably the 
effectual agent; and if the stigma in a pin centre receives 
pollen by any means from its own anthers (which is unlikely) 
or from another pin centre, the latter only will take effect. 
Hence a cross fertilization goes on, and this you see by agency 
of insects. It may not have struck you, could not in fact, 
unless some of these facts were known to you, that insects 
and flowers are mutually necessary to each other, and neither 
could exist without the other. I remember being muck struck 
with this remark when I heard it from the lips of Mr. Bates, 
the traveller of the Amazons, during a short walk on the 
Warren. “If insects perish” he said ‘‘ flowers must neces- 
sarily perish too.” The flower yields its nectar to the insect, 
and the insect in return assists in perpetuating the flower. 
Such are a few of the mysteries enveloped in a Primrose 
blossom. As my remarks have already reached a greater 
length than I intended, I must say nothing about the Cowslip, 
though I should like, if I am not tiring you, to say a few words 
about the Oxlzp. I may astonish you, but I. do not think I 
shall make a rash assertion, if I say that, in all probability, 
none here present have seen the true Oxlip. It grows in 
Cambridgeshire and perhaps one or two other localities. 
What we call the Oxlip is, as you know, a set of several 
flowers like Primroses growing on one stem like Cowslip 
flowers. I remarked a few minutes ago that the stem of the 
Primrose was arrested in its growth, that if you cut through 
the root just below the ground you would see that the pedicels 
all sprang from one circle, and that if we could only imagine 
the stem elevated, carrying this circle with it, we should have 
our Oxlip. It has been generally set down as a hybrid be- 
tween a Cowslip and a Primrose, but lam quite of the opinion 
of my friend, Mr. Britten, (to whom I am in fact indebted for 
some of the thoughts I have placed before you,) that it is but 
a developed Primrose. He has found both single flowered 
and many flowered stems growing on the same root. Itisa 
question, however, by no means settled, whether there is not 
in addition a true intermediate form between a Cowslip and a 
Primrose. There is plenty of work before us all in the matter 
