62 THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



Why do the fly-catching plants cause the death 

 of numbers of unlucky insects ? Why are the 

 stamens and pistils in plants of such various 

 lengths and sizes ? Why have some flowers a 

 hairy fringe, and others drops of nectar in their 

 calyces ? What is the meaning of the scent of 

 flowers, and what is the object of the night- 

 opening flowers ? The key to many of these 

 questions is in the relationship of flowers to in- 

 sects ; and Charles Darwin, Sir John Lubbock, 

 and "others, have done very much to explore and 

 then to popularize the subject. Much that is 

 most important has thus been made known to 

 us, but these eminent naturalists would be the 

 first to own that there is much more still to do. 

 The secrets of nature open out but slowly, and 

 after long and patient wooing. It would some- 

 times appear too as if there might be danger, 

 not indeed of adapting facts to theory, but of 

 taking it too readily for granted that all facts 

 must eventually fit into some favourite theory. 

 This tendency may not be so apparent in the 

 leaders as in their less cautious disciples in these 



