190 PRINCIPLES AND CONCLUSIONS. 



merited with brilliant flowers and try to probe the fanciful corollas. A 

 similar observation by Vallete (1875) had the fortunate consequence of 

 stimulating Plateau to undertake his first experiments, as already indicated 

 (p. 136), and this was followed by another one made on artificial flowers: 



"After the experiments of Plateau, I watched for an opportunity to renew my 

 observations, the occasion for this presenting itself while I was at La Roche-sur-Yon 

 last October. An individual of Macroglossa stellatarum entered the room and per- 

 ceiving two baskets of artificial flowers, roses, violets and others, that decorated the 

 mantel-piece, flew precipitately toward them. But I must confess that he had barely 

 unrolled the ligule before the baskets when he flew away. He had recognized his 

 error, or at least this seems to be the explanation to be given. Led into error by the 

 sense of sight, the mistake was rectified by means of the sense of smell" (1878). 



Burton recorded a corresponding observation the same year (1878:162): 



"In going by steamboat from Como to Maggiore in September, 1875, I saw a 

 Macroglossa stellatarum dart towards some brightly colored flowers in a lady's hat, 

 hover a short time above them, and then fly away. It remained long enough to con- 

 vince me that it had examined the flowers and had recognized its error." 



In a discussion of the mistakes made by animals, Romanes (1884:167) 

 cited the following cases: 



"Again, the Rev. Mr. Bevan and Miss C. Shuttleworth write me independently 

 that they have seen wasps and bees visiting representations of flowers upon the wall- 

 paper of rooms and Trevillian saw the same mistake made by a sphinx-moth. Swainson 

 in his 'Zoological Illustrations' gives an analogous case in a vertebrated animal; 

 an Australian parrot, whose food is taken from the flowers of the Eucalyptus, was 

 observed endeavoring to feed on the representations of flowers on a cotton-print dress. 

 Likewise, Professor Moseley, F. R. S., informs me that he has noticed honey-seeking 

 insects mistake for flowers the bright-colored salmon flies stuck in his hat while fishing, 

 and Mr. F. M. Burton, writing to Nature, says that he has observed the humming- 

 bird hawk-moth (Macroglossa steUatarum) mistake artificial flowers in a lady's hat 

 for real ones. Still more curiously, the naturalist Couch observed a bee mistake 

 a sea-anemone (Tealia crassicomis) , which was 'covered merely by a rim of water,' 

 for a flower, darting to the center of the disk, 'and though it struggled a good deal 

 to get free, was retained till it was drowned and was then swallowed."' 



Blanchard (1891), upon entering a hotel room in Adelsberg in September, 

 1890, found a sphinx- moth fluttering about, apparently deceived by the 

 seeming twilight. It successively examined each of the flowers, painted 

 in blue, violet, yellow, and dull red, that formed the cluster at the center 

 of the ceiling. The proboscis was extended, as though it were dealing 

 with real flowers. Disappointed by a lack of success, it left the ceiling to 

 explore, one after another, a large number of the yellowish flowers crudely 

 figured on the wall. It then went back to the ceiling, but visited only a 

 few flowers to make sure that it was not deceived the first time, and then 

 returned to the wall. After a number of fruitless visits to the flowers here, 

 it sought refuge in the hangings. Blanchard also reported a statement 

 of Alphonse DeCandolle to the effect that he had frequently seen sphinx- 

 moths dart to the flowers found on wall-paper. 



The studies of J. Pe>ez on Macroglossa led to those of Plateau on the 

 same insect, which were designed to correct the impression that this was 

 due to an actual attraction by color. An earlier observation by his brother, 

 B. Perez, was reported as follows: 



