NOVEMBER. 3 



of each ovule, it is evident that thousands of such grains 

 might be eaten by insects and yet leave more than enough 

 to fertilise all the pistillate flowers. As a matter of fact, 

 in addition to the bees and flies, there are many species of 

 flower- visiting beetles which feed chiefly on pollen, and it 

 is to attract these that so much pollen is produced. Nearly 

 all flower-visiting insects have hairy bodies, to which 

 pollen readily adheres, and in this way the grains are 

 carried from flower to flower. 



There is considerable diversity of size in the blossoms of 

 our common clematis, as well as in the character of the 

 foliage, and this has led to its separation by botanists into 

 two species, named respectively Clematis indivisa and 

 C. Jte.vasepala. The extreme forms are rather unlike, a 

 fine specimen of the former having flowers as much as 

 four inches across and large undivided leaves, while the 

 latter has smaller leaves, which are more or less cut into, 

 and the flowers are often not half the size ; but there are 

 so many intermediate forms that it frequently becomes 

 difficult to decide to which to refer any particular 

 specimen. 



The mode in which the clematis climbs is both remark- 

 able and interesting. The leaf-stalks in their young stages 

 are extremely sensitive to friction, however slight. A few 

 gentle rubs with a straw on one side will cause the stalk to 

 bend in that direction in the course of a very short time, 

 and if the rubbing be continued the bending will also 

 continue till the stalk has made a turn right round into 

 a loop or circle so as to enclose the irritating body. In 

 this way, if a breath of wind moves the young stalks 

 against the twigs of a tree or any other support in 

 the neighbourhood, they quickly bend round in the direc- 

 tion of the resistant body and thus catch hold of the 

 support. Once they have got hold they soon thicken and 

 strengthen their tissues, in response to a law, common 

 apparently to all living organisms, which causes them to 

 develope new tissue wherever the stimulus of friction or 

 irritation is applied. If a stem of clematis is cut through 

 with a sharp knife and the cut end is examined with a 



