1 86 MY STUDIO NEIGHBORS 



the kind, or even the species, of insect to which 

 this cross-fertilization is intrusted. 



Let us look at our Arethusa. The writer has 

 never happened to observe an insect at work 

 upon this flower, but the intention of its structure 

 is so plain that by a mere examination we may 

 safely prophesy not only what must happen when 

 the insect seeks its nectar, but with equal assur- 

 ance the kind of insect thus invited and expected. 

 I have indicated a group of the orchids in their 

 usual marshy haunt, and in Fig. 4, separately, a 

 series of diagrams presents sections of the flower, 

 natural size and duly indexed, which renders de- 

 tailed description hardly necessary. The column 

 is here quite elongated, forked at the tip, the 

 space between the forks occupied by the anther, 

 which is hinged to the upper division. This 

 anther lid is closed tightly, with the sticky mass 

 of pollen hidden behind it in the cavity. The 

 stigma is on the external inner side of the lower 

 division, and thus distinctly separated from the 

 pollen. The " lip " is extended forward as a hos- 

 pitable threshold to the insect. And to what in- 

 sect might we assume this invitation of color, fra- 

 grance, nectar, and threshold to be extended ? 



Let us consider the flower simply as a device 

 to insure its own cross -fertilization. The insect 



