AUGUST. 387 



of one flower arc easily brought in contact with the pointals 

 of others. The flower of the grass, which is without honey, 

 has neither the fragrance of other flowers, nor its beautiful 

 corolla, which would serve only to guide the insect to a dry 

 fountain, and to an object that has no need of its agency. 

 Nature has established other agents to perform these services 

 for the grasses : and appointed the zephyrs for this purpose, 

 who dip their pinions into the farina of the flowers, and fer- 

 tilize them while sweeping over the waving field in their 

 invisible flight. 



The hues, the fragrance and the general beauty of the 

 flower are but parts of an apparatus purposely contrived for 

 the accomplishment of this end. The honey is placed in the 

 flower for no other purpose but to attract the insect. The 

 fragrance is designed to spread abroad into the atmosphere 

 something that shall notify the insect of the presence of the 

 flower, and the beauty of its form and the splendor of its 

 hues are intended to guide the insect to its exact location. 

 The bee has just emerged from the hive, to go abroad in 

 search for his honied subsistence. How would he find it, if 

 the flower had neither brilliancy of hues nor sweetness of 

 scent ? And why should these things be superadded to the 

 flower and thereby attract the insect to it, if the insect be in 

 no way serviceable or necessary to the plant ? On coming 

 out he perceives the odor of the sweet-scented narcissus ; 

 but this odor is so equally diffused that it serves only to de- 

 tain, not to guide or direct him. While flying round in the 

 midst of the perfumed gales, the beautiful disk of the flower, 

 with its white corolla, and its purple and yellow centre, sud- 

 denly attracts his sight, and he directs his course immediately 

 to its depository of sweets. • 



The flower attracts attention both by its colors and its 

 forms, which are almost always regular and geometrical, that 

 they may form a more conspicuous contrast with the herbage 

 around. A solitary flower, which was not conspicuous, might 

 entirely escape the sight of a multitude of insects, even if it 

 was highly fragrant, and its obscurity might prove fatal to the 

 continuance of its species. Nature has, therefore, taken care, 



