THE FLOWER. 87 



5. Special mechanisms. Such peculiarly shaped flowers 

 as those of the lupine, sage, lady's-slipper, milkweed, and 

 many other plants exhibit special contrivances, often in 

 the form of an exquisitely arranged mechanism, by which 

 the flower is adapted to some particular visitor or class of 

 visitors, through whose agency it is fertilized. These are 

 described at length in various works, and we shall have 

 occasion to study some of them in detail as we take up 

 different families of plants. 1 



1 The student is given distinctly to understand that the foregoing 

 account is necessarily incomplete, and must be supplemented by careful 

 and intelligent reading of the references given, if even a fairly complete 

 comprehension of the subject is to be attained. It is by no means the 

 part of these exercises, with their brief summaries, to cover the subject 

 of botany, but to show the beginner how to go to work. 



