Form and Color in Nature. 247 



keeping pace with each, as the rifled cannon and the dyna- 

 mite gun with the ironclad. This was done by him in so 

 masterly a manner that I will pass on to other phases of the 

 matter. 



The wealth of materials which has been gathered in illus- 

 tration of the various branches of our subject is such that 

 one is at a loss to select from it. Perhaps I can not do bet- 

 ter than to take up the development of flowers and fruits 

 and their relation to insects and birds. In this field Mr. 

 Darwin, Mr. Grant Allen, and Sir John Lubbock have all 

 been industrious workers. 



Broadly speaking, the order of the changes in the method 

 of reproduction in organisms has been as follows : First, 

 through mere multiplication by fission or division ; then 

 through the conjunction and blending of apparently similar 

 individuals; then through the combined action of certain 

 specialized organs in the individual ; and, finally, through 

 the co-operation of distinct and different individualities. 

 There have been and are some cases which must be consid- 

 ered more complex than the foregoing statement implies, 

 but for the present this is sufficient for our purpose. All 

 these methods are still in use and their operation may in a 

 measure be followed. Now, as organization has become 

 more complex, investigation seems to show that vigor has 

 resulted from cross-fertilization even where both elements 

 were to be found in the same individual. This conclusion 

 and the circumstances connected with it can best be traced 

 in the vegetable world, where the various processes are to a 

 degree open to inspection. 



Making a long stride over the less elaborate forms, where 

 the causes of change have been more obscure, and taking up 

 the phanerogams or true flowering plants, we are at once 

 met with a question as to the origin of the primitive flower. 

 It is commonly held by botanists that all the parts of a 

 flower of the more familiar kind the sepals, the petals, the 

 stamens, and pistils are simply modified leaves. The origi- 

 nal flower was undoubtedly a very simple affair compared 

 with that which we now see, and we may liken it to a bud, 

 which consists of an unfolded cluster of leaves. Still more 

 bud-like is something which is found on the common violet. 

 This blossoms profusely, but ordinary flowers in certain 

 species produce but few seeds. There is upon the same 

 plant, however, another class of flowers called cleistogamic, 

 which do not open, but nevertheless produce seeds, and 



