134 COLIN CLOUT'S CALENDAR. 



of distant cousin to the primroses ; but having been cast 

 into much the same sort of situation as sundew, it has 

 acquired in the end very similar habits ; while at the 

 same time it has also specialized itself in another direc- 

 tion for bee-fertilization, till its irregular blue flowers 

 now show hardly any trace of their primrose origin save 

 in some small points of internal structure, noticeable only 

 to an anatomical eye. The two plants strikingly exhibit 

 the strange results natural selection will often produce 

 where very exceptional circumstances make the neces- 

 saries of vegetable life much more difficult to procure 

 than in normal cases. Under such conditions, plants 

 frequently acquire tricks of structure and movement 

 which make them resemble conscious and intelligent 

 animate creatures to an almost incredible degree. 



