228 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 



seems also contrary to law to slaughter insects aimlessly, and upon 

 close examination I have found that in a few cases where a moth's 

 proboscis seems to have widened the cleft between the jaws, but ever 

 so little, the pollinia have found their way up through the orifice. 

 (Fig. 5 and 6) I have seen pollinia where no moth hung dead, but so 

 rarely that I think some insect must have been at work to separate the 

 jaws. This however does not satisfy me, it is waste of life to have so- 

 many insects killed for such few results. My son Charles (one of our 

 associates, and by far the youngt st of them) tells me that if you care- 

 fully pull the moth from the flower, the jaws break away. And there 

 is a beautiful sort of hinge or socket to them, set at such an angle 

 that if they are raised from their recurved position by such a force 

 they diverge, and do easily become detached. In the former case the 

 pollinia can protrude without difficulty ; in the latter they become 

 uncovered ; in either case fertilization becomes easy by means of 

 spiders, ants, small plant-lice, or other insects which frequent flowers 

 by hazard or by choice. This leads me to believe that in Brazil and 

 Central America, where the Physianthus I am told is native, it is 

 frequented by stronger moths than we have here, or possibly by 

 humming birds, which without difficulty break away the jaws, liber- 

 ate the pollinia, and perhaps even carry them away to other flowers, 

 so to bring about cross fertilization. The plant here is a very shy 

 seeder ; I had but three well formed seed-vestels on mine. The ovary, 

 as I said, is double ; one part falls away, the other swells to the size of 

 a pigeon's egg. In its native woods there must be more seed-vessels^ 

 and this gives strength to my inference, but we may very fairly call 

 upon our kindred Societies in Central and South America, with 

 whom we exchange Proceedings, to take up the enquiry, and substi- 

 tute fact for hypothesis. 



We have a member of the genus Asclepias in our every field, called 

 the silk-weed. Its behaviour in connection with the setting of its 

 seeds is very singular ; I hope to be able to make a close study of it 

 next season. I should be glad if this paper invites the attention of 

 others in distant lands to the methods by which the seeds of other 

 plants of the family Asclepias are feitilized. 



I can scarcely think this Physianthus has become adapted to the 

 catching of moths or humming birds' tongues by, so to call it, the 

 first intent. If the jaws were in any sense less complete, a moth's 



