CREATION BY LAW 147 



inches, and was chiefly fertilised by a species of moth which 

 appeared at the time of the plant's flowering, and whose pro- 

 boscis was of the same length. Among the millions of flowers 

 of the Angrsecum produced every year, some would always be 

 shorter than the average, some longer. The former, owing 

 to the structure of the flower, would not get fertilised, be- 

 cause the moths could get all the nectar without forcing their 

 trunks down to the very base. The latter would be well 

 fertilised, and the longest would on the average be the best 

 fertilised of all. By this process alone the average length 

 of the nectary would annually increase, because, the short- 

 nectaried flowers being sterile and the long ones having 

 abundant offspring, exactly the same effect would be produced 

 as if a gardener destroyed the short ones and sowed the seed 

 of the long ones only ; and this we know by experience 

 would produce a regular increase of length, since it is this 

 very process which has increased the size and changed the 

 form of our cultivated fruits and flowers. 



But this would lead in time to such an increased length 

 of the nectary that many of the moths could only just reach 

 the surface of the nectar, and only the few with exceptionally 

 long trunks be able to suck up a considerable portion. 



This would cause many moths to neglect these flowers 

 because they could not get a satisfying supply of nectar, and 

 if these were the only moths in the country the flowers would 

 undoubtedly suffer, and the further growth of the nectary be 

 checked by exactly the same process which had led to its 

 increase. But there are an immense variety of moths, of 

 various lengths of proboscis, and as the nectary became longer, 

 other and larger species would become the fertilisers, and 

 would carry on the process till the largest moths became the 

 sole agents. Now, if not before, the moth would also be 

 affected, for those with the longest probosces would get most 

 food, would be the strongest and most vigorous, would visit 

 and fertilise the greatest number of flowers, and would leave 

 the largest number of descendants. The flowers most com- 

 pletely fertilised by these moths being those which had the 

 longest nectaries, there would in each generation be on the 

 average an increase in the length of the nectaries, and also 

 an average increase in the length of the probosces of the 



