36 Who painted the Flowers ? 



observer conceive that there would be the smallest hope 

 of misleading it ? F"or it must ever be remembered that 

 insects show in the plainest manner that they are de- 

 pendent on no such adventitious guidance. In many 

 cases (as for example, Columbine, Tufted- Vetch (Vicia 

 Graced), and Oxlip), bees find it most convenient to get at 

 the honey by biting a hole through the corolla from the 

 outside, without troubling themselves to thrust their 

 trunks down the tube. Now, if they can thus tell the 

 position of the store when an opaque veil intervenes, 

 what possible reason is there for supposing they need the 

 guidance of spots and lines when advancing down a 

 tube? 



So much for the idea that the colours of flowers are 

 designed solely for the allurement and guidance of 

 insects. Next, how far does their service, even when 

 secured, appear to be the great benefit which it is 

 assumed to be ? Here, again, I limit myself to facts for 

 which Sir John Lubbock speaks. , 



In the first place, the great order of the Crudferc^ a 

 remarkably vigorous and thriving tribe of plants, is thus 

 described by him : x "But although the colour, honey, 

 and scent of the Crucifercz have evident reference to the 

 visits of insects, this order does not offer so many special 

 and specific adaptations as we shall meet with in other 

 groups ; and the majority of species, at any rate, appear 

 to have retained the power of self-fertilization ; " whence 

 it appears that the retention of such power is, after all, 

 no great hindrance in the struggle for life. 



Again, the Lime-tree, as I have said, is a prime 

 favourite with bees. Yet what is the result? Sir John 

 Lubbock 2 again tells us : "The visits of insects are very 

 numerous, and yet in this country the Lime seldom 

 produces ripe seed." What argument do we therefore 

 find to warrant us in declaring that the only object of 

 all its pomp of blossom is to attract visitors which 

 benefit it nothing? 



1 P. 58. 2 P. 71. 



