Fertilization of the Scarlet Runner. 259 
consequence of the direction and contraction of the spiral coil, 
this protrusion of the stigma is at first made in a direction 
rather outwards than upwards, towards the blade of the left 
wing of the flower; but as the thrust continues, the stigma 
turns more and more upwards. The anthers remain in their 
place within the tube, in consequence of the thin thread-like 
character of the filaments, which crumple up, and have not, 
like the stiff elastic style, the power to thrust themselves out- 
wards. Consequently the anthers are passed over and swept 
by the brush of the style. 
The result of these movements is that when the bee first 
inserts his proboscis into the flower, the stigma will exactly 
meet and sweep the base of it, and will brush off from it and 
keep a large part of any pollen it may have brought from 
other flowers. As the bee presses the wing of the flower 
further back, the style comes out further; the stigma turns 
upwards away from the insect, and that part of the style which 
is covered with hairs comes in contact with the base of the 
proboscis. In coming out of the tube or hollow of the keel 
this brush has been forced against and has swept the sticky 
pollen out of the anthers, and is covered with it; and, in 
consequence of the position of the hairs and the direction of 
the thrust, the pollen is especially thick on the side of the 
style which is next the bee. As he struggles and twists to 
get the nectar, abundance of the pollen is deposited on and 
clings to the base of his proboscis, as may be seen by thrust- 
ing any pointed object into the flower. When he quits the 
flower, its wing springs back to its original place: the keel of 
the flower does so also, and the end of the elastic style retreats 
to its own old position within the hollow of the keel. But it 
does not do this very quickly; and as the bee’s motion, and 
especially that of his proboscis, is very rapid, his proboscis 
must be withdrawn before he ceases to weigh down the wing, 
and at any rate before the stigma retreats. It follows that 
his proboscis will not, in retreating, be touched or swept by 
the stigma; and the last thing it will touch in leaving the 
flower will be the pollen-covered brush of the style, from which 
it will carry off an abundant load of fresh pollen, to be depo- 
sited in its turn on the stigma of the next flower. 
I found the base of the proboscides of some bees which 
I caught covered with the pollen. I also found the stigmas 
of flowers which had opened in a room, and were not visited 
by bees, quite free from pollen, although, on pressing down 
the wing of the flower, the brush of the style was seen to be 
covered by it. On the other hand, the stigmas of the flowers 
visited by bees were always covered with pollen. 
