258 Mr. T. H. Farrer on the manner of 
there sometimes remained and sometimes went away disap- 
pointed. When they remained, they inserted their proboscides 
into a hole bored through the calyx, the petals, and the sta- 
minal tube. J never saw them bore these holes, though every 
flower where they remained had them. One humble-bee, 
however, (black, with two yellow bars on his back, and a light- 
coloured tail) certainly did bore or, rather, nip these holes ; 
and this bee invariably adopted the same plan, and never 
looked at the mouth of the flower. But by far the greater 
number of the larger bees alighted on the wings, or, rather, 
generally on the left wing of the flower, and imserted their 
proboscides down the apparent natural channel towards the base 
of the flower. So far as I saw, the same bees always adopted 
the same course. In alighting on the wing of the flower, they 
weighed it down, and in so doing pressed outwards the stiff 
elastic lower part or claw. On doing the same thing with 
one’s finger, it became obvious that the bee thus opened for its 
proboscis a clear path to the hollow between the claw and the 
staminal tube, and also to the base of the separate stamens, 
between which and the other stamens would be his access to 
the hollow surrounding the ovary. The tendency of pulling 
back the keel is to widen the openings between the separate 
stamen and the others; and there is a curious appendage out- 
side the base of the separate stamen, which lies exactly in the 
path of the bee’s proboscis, and which, when pressed, pulls 
the separate stamen back towards the vexillum, and leaves free 
access to the ovary. From the vigorous sidling struggles the 
bees constantly made, it looks as if they were trying in this 
way to get to the inside of the staminal tube, which I see is 
always penetrated by the bees which bore holes. 
But, however this may be, it clearly appears that the same 
bending down of the wings of the flower which opens for the 
bees a way to its base, produces another and a very curious 
effect on the style. The lower part of the wings of the flower 
being attached to the lower and outer part of the keel, when 
the former is bent outwards, it pulls the base of the keel out- 
wards too. The effect of this is to pull the upper spiral coil or 
tube of the keel backwards also, and at the same time to con- 
tract it. The style, which before had been exactly adjusted to 
the length of the keel, now becomes too long for it, and, in 
consequence of the stiffness of the lower part and the wiriness 
of the upper part of the style, the tube of the keel is pulled 
backwards on the style, or, which is the same thing, the coil 
of the style is pushed forwards through the tube, so as to 
thrust the upper end of the style quite out of the tube, and 
expose the whole of the stigma and the bristles below it. In 
