32 Who painted the Flowers? 



do the Wild Cherry and other entomophilous^ or insect- 

 fertilized, trees. Again, the large class of the Coniferce, 

 the Fir tribe, are evergreen^ with one exception, the 

 Larch. The Larch is also the one which is not wind- 

 fertilized. In the case of all the others, Scotch Fir, 

 Yew, Spruce, for instance, the flowers cannot possibly 

 appear before the foliage. 



"Again," says Sir John, "in such [wind-fertilized] 

 flowers, the filaments of the stamens are generally 

 long ; " but again, I would remark, in the Scotch Fir 

 and the Yew there are no filaments at all. 



Some woodcuts are given by Sir John to show how 

 the stigma * in wind-fertilized flowers is more branched 

 and hairy than in those fertilized by insects. No doubt, 

 it is obvious that such an arrangement is but natural 

 and to be. expected; but it is dangerous to deduce 

 general rules from particular facts, and if the examples 

 were somewhat differently selected, the conclusion would 

 not be so clear. If, for example, the Apple or the 

 Water-Plantain (Alisma Plantago] were chosen to re- 

 present the entomophilous, and the Ash the anemo- 

 philous plants, it might seem that the rule was re- 

 versed. 



But these are minor matters, and are valuable only as 

 showing how easy and how unsafe it is to generalize. 

 To come now to the main point at issue, which resolves 

 itself into two questions, (i) How far does it appear 

 proved that the sole function of colour in flowers is to 

 attract insects? (2) How far, that the service of insects 

 is the main advantage to plants in the struggle for exist- 

 ence? 



As to the first question, Sir John Lubbock implies 2 

 that even in the case of two species of the same genus, 

 the larger or more showy flower will attract the more 

 numerous insects. But how does the theory so implied 

 agree with the fact that many of the most insect- 



1 The summit of the pistil on which pollen from the stamens has 

 to be deposited for fertilization. 



2 P. 41. 



