BEES DO THEIR WORK 339 



Similar evidence of apparent design on the 

 part of flowers in the arrangement for guarding 

 against self-pollination meets us everywhere on 

 every side. 



Consider, for example, the way in which the 

 lilies project the receptive stigmas far beyond the 

 stamens; or the way in which the amaryllis, the 

 carnation, the balloon flower, the geranium, and 

 numerous others effect the same purpose by 

 careful provision that the stamens and pistils of 

 any given flower shall not come to maturity at 

 the same time. 



Then there are plants like the sage, the sta- 

 mens of which seem to lie in wait for the visitor ; 

 being observed to bend quickly over, under stim- 

 ulus of contact, and rub their pollen on either 

 side of the insect's back. Again there is the milk- 

 weed (Asclepias syriaca], which stores its pollen 

 in tiers of handbags connected with a strap that 

 entangles the feet of the bees and which, in its 

 overeagerness to make sure of the transfer of 

 its precious wares, sometimes defeats its own 

 purpose by so overloading the insect that it can- 

 not fly away. 



There are some water plants, too, that 

 adopt methods to secure cross-fertilization 

 that are ingenious and wonderful almost be- 

 yond belief. 



