RELATIVES OF THE HERB ROBERT 141 
Darwin and the patience of Job, especially in those 
species whose flowers range only from a third to 
half an inch in diameter, and last, as most of them 
do, for only a few hours. 
But however this may be, it is interesting to note 
that as we work from the large conspicuous and 
attractive blossoms to the small and inconspicuous 
ones that are likely to be overlooked by insects, so the 
arrangements for crossing are left behind, those of the 
Meadow and the Dusky Cranesbill, for example, 
excluding self-pollination as certainly as those of the 
Small Dovesfoot make provision for it. 
I have already mentioned the blue-stained pollen 
grains of the Meadow Cranesbill, but I cannot pretend 
to explain them, especially as they are white or 
yellowish when the anther dehisces ; and I referred 
to them as stained on purpose, because the colour 
seems to come from the cells of the anther after dehis- 
cence. The Cut-leaved Cranesbill also possesses blue 
anthers, and its grains show a faint tinge of the same 
shade. It is, in my opinion, open to question whether 
this colouring has any significance in the life-history 
of the species, for I am certainly not one of those who 
believe that every detail of shape, size and colour, 
every spot, dot, line and tint, wherever and whenever 
they occur, must be of some value in the struggle 
for existence, although I am well aware that differences 
which seem small to our ignorance may nevertheless 
be, and often are, of great importance to their possessor. 
With regard to the time that elapses between 
pollination and the maturity of the fruit, in the 
small-flowered species that I have tested, the Shining 
and the Round-leaved Cranesbill agree with the Herb 
Robert in requiring three weeks, almost invariably 
