ON PRIMROSES AND THEIR FERTILIZATION. 91 



during a short walk on the Warren. " If insects 

 perish " he said " flowers must necessarily 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 

 Oxlip. I may astonish you, but I do not think I 

 shall make a rash assertion, if I say that, in all pro- 

 bability, 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 between a Cowslip 

 and a Primrose, but I am 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. I have found 

 both single flowered and many flowered stems grow- 

 ing on the same root. It is a 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 ra 



