340 LUTHER BURBANK 



Thus the little water plant called Villarsia 

 nymphoides sends out its flowers from its sub- 

 merged haunts as little detached balloons that 

 float to the surface of the water and then burst 

 open to offer their pollen to the insect messengers. 



And the eel grass (Vallisneria spiraUs), by an 

 even more wonderful arrangement, projects its 

 pistillate flower up to the surface of the water on 

 a long spiral stem grown solely for that purpose ; 

 while its staminate flower strains at the short 

 stalk on which it is tethered until it breaks away 

 and rises detached to the surface. The pistillate 

 flower, once pollen has been brought to it by 

 its detached floating mate, which drifts off to 

 perish, is drawn again beneath the water by the 

 recoiling stem, never to reappear. 



In the preevolutionary days, such instances 

 as these were cited as giving incontrovertible 

 evidence of design in nature. 



But no one nowadays regards them in that 

 light, if we use the word in the old teleological 

 sense. Since Darwin taught us the way, we are 

 able to explain these marvelous adaptations; 

 but as evidences of the operation of the great 

 principle of natural selection they are no less 

 wonderful. 



And most remarkable of all, as viewed from 

 the present standpoint, are the orchids, the ex- 



