THE BUMBLE-BEE 305 



lips leave no passage between. Its color is a uni- 

 form purplish red; but there, just in the middle of 

 the lower lip, is a large spot of bright yellow. This 

 spot, so appropriate for 

 catching the eye, is the mark, 

 the signboard I told you of. 

 By its brightness it says: 

 Here is the keyhole. 



" Press your little finger on 



the spot. You see. The flower yawns immediately, 

 the secret lock works. And you think the bumble- 

 bee does not know these things? Watch it in the 

 garden and you will see how it can read the signs of 

 the flowers. When it visits a snap-dragon, it always 

 alights on the yellow spot and nowhere else. The 

 door opens, it enters. It twists and turns in the cor- 

 olla and covers itself with pollen, with which it daubs 

 the stigma. Having drunk the drop, it goes off to 

 other flmv ITS, forcing the opening of which it knows 

 the secret thoroughly. 



"All closed flowers have, like the snap-dragon, a 

 conspicuous point, a spot of bright color, a sign that 

 shows the insect the entrance to the corolla and says 

 to it : Here it is. Finally, insects whose trade it is 

 to visit flowers and make the pollen fall from the 

 stamens on to the stigma, have a wonderful knowl- 

 edge of the significance of this spot. It is on it they 

 use their strength to make the flower open. 



"Let us recapitulate. Insects are necessary to 

 flowers to bring pollen to the stigmas. A drop of 

 nectar, <lNtill< <! <m purpose for this, attracts them to 

 the bottom of the corolla ; a bright spot shows them 



